The House That Xavier Built
by Wolfsaint
Summary: Charles Xavier had never believed in Fate. When a young and battered mutant dropped into his life, he built a home to catch her and invited Fate to stay. Awful summary, sorry. A bit AU. Charles/OC. During and after First Class. More info inside.
1. The House that Attracts

**Howdy all! This is my first X-Men fic and it is a little bit AU and may get a little confusing at times so I'll give you a little bit of info you need. This story is a pairing between my OC, Ellaina Hawkschild (Ellie for short) and the young Charles X. Her mutant ability is a surprise but I'm sure you'll figure it out pretty quickly if you pay attention. This story is set partially DURING First Class and partially after. Charles meets her at fifteen years old and she sticks with him until that fateful day at the beach and beyond. I'm essentially adding a new character to the story. This will hopefully set up for later stories to come involving Ellie and Charles and their adventures, as well as act sort of like a wish fulfillment thing for me and a way to get it out of my head. The length will depend on feedback, which is always more than welcome. I promise that there is some very original stuff in here, but for those of you who really loved the movie there's a lot of that in here too. I'm not breaking any rules either because that's what fanfiction is for right? With that in mind, I own absolutely nothing about this, therefore copyright is safe, and the story commences! **

Of the many things that should have and did cross the fifteen year old mind of Charles Xavier-albeit at such a small scale that he paid no attention-as he was roused from sleep by a strange and desperate new presence in his home for the second time, the only thought that really stood out was: _Why do frightened and hungry mutants always seem to find _my _bloody house! _

With a somewhat exasperated sigh, he threw back his bed sheets and gently reached out to Raven, prodding her awake.

_What is it? _her groggy mind voice asked. He also received an image of the azure young woman tugging on a fluffy robe and rubbing her eyes.

_Another runaway mutant in the house I'm afraid. I'm going to see if I can talk to her. _He receded from her mind, allowing himself a tiny bit of smug satisfaction. He didn't even have to press his fingertips to his temple to focus that time. He was getting stronger. He could sense the other mutant effortlessly, all the way in the kitchen, her mind a bright emerald flare on the edge of his mental vision and the sweet taste of apples on his tongue. Curious.

But what was perhaps even more so was the nature of the mind itself. Charles frowned as he descended the stairs. It was like no other mutant mind he had ever encountered before. There was something strangely…primal that overrode any rational thought that may have formed there. All he was getting were instincts, animal urges to feast, pause, search for danger, repeat. The thoughtless compulsions grew stronger as he neared. It was a good thing he'd chosen a room so close or could take nearly an hour to wind his way through the palace of a home.

A new taste joined the rather pleasant flavor of apples, one that contorted his face into a grimace at its bitter sting. A hot, fiery fear emphasized the chaotic swirl of emotion and incoherent, animalistic babbling that caught him up in its ferocious need. The light from the refrigerator came into view as well as the sounds of a nice ransacking going on. He did press two fingertips to his temple then, just to keep himself firmly rooted in his own mind. The raging ocean emanating from whatever was beyond that threshold threatened to sweep him up, savage him and spit him back out in pieces. Not a very pleasant idea to be perfectly honest.

"Charles," Raven's voice startled him from nearby, causing him to hop several inches into the air. Damn, he should have been able to sense her coming. "What's in there?" Her eyes were wide with apprehension. If it came to a fight, the two of them may be at a disadvantage if the mutant had any considerable amount of power.

His calm, serene expression never wavered even as his heart continued to hammer quite loudly in response to his fright. He had become an expert on concealing his own thoughts and feelings, possibly due to the overexposure to everyone else's he got daily. "A mutant, I believe. Her mind is just so…odd. I'm not quite sure about anything else." Then he noticed the bat Raven was wielding with unsteady hands. Her fear left a light kick of sulfur in his mouth. "I pray it does not come to that my dear." He placed an assuring hand over hers and stepped calmly into the kitchen.

Well, he could quite honestly (for once) say he was surprised at what he saw. "Hmmm," he said. He dared not press into the creatures mind any more, lest he be overwhelmed. He would just have to wing it then.

_You're sure that's a mutant? _Raven asked, fixing him with a puzzled expression. He nodded once in reply.

_Her mind is so bizarre, I can't get anything else from her. To be honest I'm a bit nervous to try. Her thoughts seem to be purely instinct and raw emotion. I'm going to get closer. _

_Charles, don't-_he cut her off and moved forward anyway. The scrawny, bloodied gray wolf with its front half buried in a mountain of food on the floor seemed too preoccupied with filling its starving belly to notice his silent approach. Well, it certainly didn't look like any mutant he'd ever seen before. Most of them were humans, but could it be possible that animals were being affected as well? He stopped that train of thought before it could go any further. The consequences did not bear thinking about.

He was only about three feet away now. One more step would put him directly in the path of the light from the refrigerator. Surely the beast wasn't that oblivious. His heart rate sped up again. Being so very near a wild animal that was so obviously starving and half-mad and frightened really wasn't his brightest of ideas, but honestly, he'd never picked up a manual on handling stray wolves in your kitchen for a bit of light reading. The possibility that he'd ever be in this peculiar situation had never crossed his vast mind, and therefore left him defenseless.

Charles Xavier had been called a lot of things. Freak, nutter, nerd, but the word coward had never been one of them. With a deep breath to steady himself, he took that final step into the light and the beast's line of vision. Yep, this was definitely not one of his more brilliant ideas.

As if someone had thrown a switch, the animal froze. Its raging tornado of sensation and instinct picked up speed (if that was at all possible). Slowly, painfully so, its matted and mangled gray head swiveled around to face him. That was when he saw it. Her eyes were a vibrant green that shone with a strangely intelligent light. Beautiful twin pools of emerald on a stark face. They were not wolf's eyes. No, wolf's eyes were amber and on rare occasion, crystalline blue (much like his own) but never this clear green of the deep forest.

_She's a shape-shifter as well._ Charles projected almost reverently. It seemed to be a rare gift among mutants, but somehow two of them (both female, mind you!) had managed to find their way to _his _house. Again, curious.

Raven gripped the bat tighter, her thoughts gearing up for a fight.

_Stand down, Raven. We don't want to frighten her further. _She did not acknowledge him.

The wolf stared warily up at him through her brows, her head lowered and a ridge of fur along her neck rising slowly. He needed to calm her and quickly. While he was loath to submerge himself in that stormy inferno inside her head, he needed access to whatever humanity may be left, at least a name. Apart from that, (as difficult as it was for him to admit to himself) he wasn't near strong enough to tackle a wild wolf. Particularly one so desperate. A low growl rumbled deep in her solar plexus, making the air around them vibrate. Her lip curled back to reveal dirty and unhealthy sabers for fangs. Blood steadily dripped from a myriad of gashes in her disgusting fur. All in all, she was a menacing sight. Charles had a sneaking suspicion that his fear of her was justified.

He felt the shift in her instincts with mere moments of warning. The subtle turn from _fear, eat, fear, hungry _to _fear, hungry, fear, panic, flight, fear, fight _bumped his alert level from red to flaming just in time for him to dive into her mind (which, in his lack of preparation and concentration, ended up as more of an awkward and quite unattractive belly flop) and hurl his body to the side before the animal lunged. He felt those fetid teeth nick his forearm, but he didn't have time to even register the pain before he was swept away by the turbulence that was her mind.

Somehow, he got the vague impression that he was spinning, which was incredibly strange as usually being inside someone else's psyche didn't really feel like anything. He felt the things the body felt, but the mind had no feeling to speak of. Once more, curious.

He did indeed feel the things her body was feeling, his own quivering on the periphery of his mind vision. She was wracked with pain on the inside and the outside. Her hide was laced with deep gashes that dripped steadily onto his hardwood flooring and sent a constant stream of stinging fire throbbing through every muscle fiber and cell in her body. Her inside was riddled with disease and starvation. The poor creature was broken and dying. Now he just needed to find out why.

Charles took a metaphorical breath and figuratively steeled himself for the turmoil that he knew awaited him. As prepared as he felt he could ever be, he turned (metaphorically, that is) and focused his attention on the dark cyclone that was her mind.

Another vague impression, but this time it was slightly less so. He felt the spinning sensation again, but it wasn't him this time. It was her. Her instincts buffeted him like hurricane force winds, bits of half formed thoughts pelting his face like stinging droplets of rain. Every emotion flashed like lightning in her terrible, mindless rage and fear, illuminating crumbling ruins of memories on a blood-red landscape that reeked of agony. Cinnamon and sulfur overloaded his figurative mouth and nose.

He still wasn't where he needed to be, so he dove in further and for a moment lost himself in the excruciating memories.

_The bars are cold under my fingertips. Such a contradiction to the stifling air I struggle to drag into my lungs under the thick collar around my neck. My keen night-sight is the only thing that allows me to see. If only there was anything to see. There are no lights here. They do not want us to feel hope. _

_Silence is deafening. She screams in my ears and sets them to ringing with her insistent voice. I almost can't hear her anymore. I'm numb. Numb to the sweat that drips slowly from my skin. The fan kicks on and I feel it again. Damn you for reminding me of its presence! Damn you all. Damn you…_

_On my knees before him. He has no face, he has no name. He has but eyes and claws and teeth. With a word he can punish, and he speaks a thousand in my ears. I can't even hear the sound of my own shrieks. They don't want me to. They don't want me to know that I'm still here. Oh, God, I wish I wasn't. Dear God, take me from this place. Give me the strength to just give in. _

_Why do I not just fall? Is it because I've sunk too low already? _

_He whispers again, this time a million words burning their secret curses into me, into my soul. Nameless words that have no meaning to a deaf mind ruined by pain. Wait, not meaningless. I hear them now._

_Retreat. Draw away from me. Curl in upon yourself. Lose yourself. Forget who you are. Forget who you were. You are an animal and you deserve to be beaten. _

_Such soft, sweet words to speak. Like tiny golden feathers in an ocean of blood, lifting me, buoying me. The feathers lash at me, slicing and dicing and drawing black blood from a body that has so little left to give. You've taken it all. _

_I deserve to be beaten. I am an animal. I am an animal. I AM AN ANIMAL! _

_Skin bursting, water dripping, what remains of skin itching, long appendage growing from the tip of spine. Stubby fingers. Claws. Fangs. Blood. Rage. Kill. KILL! KILL! KILL!_

_Ripping tearing running running running leaping ripping tasting sniffing rejoicing drinking drinking drinking running always running. Running. Running running…black. _

_Bright beacon in the distance. It promises food. It promises rest. It promises peace. Sniff sniff. Listen…Two bodies…one massive stone structure…should be safe…should be safe…_

Out. Charles needed out and he needed it now. He felt himself slipping, being drawn in by the relentless pain and chaos. He almost didn't have the strength or the know how to toss out a lifeline. As if he was watching himself through a glass tunnel, he saw himself throw the line. It pulled him in deeper.

Deeper…

Deeper still…

Deep…

There! A bright light flickered before him. He grabbed it and yanked. He was pulled free with an earsplitting shriek that rattled back up to his physical body, but he was in so far now that he barely even felt it. This was bad. He had to get what he needed and get out fast.

At last, he'd reached the human beneath the animal. He felt her here like a ghost. A small girl sat hunched over in a corner.

_What is your name? _he asked her.

_Ellaina Hawkschild. _She didn't even look up at him.

_Are you still here Ellaina? _

_I don't know. _

_I need you to do something for me. I need you to change back. _

_To what? _

_Human. _

_I cannot. _

Charles had what he needed. He had her name, and a name was a powerful tool for controlling the beast inside. He knew that he should leave, get back to his body while he still could, but something stopped him. This bereft girl needed help. Her name would cage her beast again, but it would get out and when it did it would tear him apart. Aside from that, she was still human. He wouldn't leave her here to wither and fade to nothing.

Before she could protest, he lunged forward, grabbed the tiny thing around the waist and jumped.

Up he soared, past the beast and into the storm. He set the girl down then, taking her face in his hands as the hurricane raged around them. She gazed at him with those emerald eyes, and he saw in them something he had not seen since he submerged. Hope. A spirit of a smile flickered across her lips as she stood up, hair flinging about her wildly and shoulders rolled back with pride.

_Come back now. _She nodded once, and he surfaced.

His own head greeted him like a slap in the face, its cool familiarity in such stark contrast to the turmoil in Ellaina's mind that it sent him into a brief shock. A violent shaking motion was what finally brought him all the way back. He opened his eyes to Raven's frantic face dominating his line of vision and her hands shaking his shoulders with as much zeal as she could muster.

"I'm alright, stop that!" He waved her off and sat up straight. Well, he tried to sit up straight. Before he got halfway he was assaulted by a migraine from Hell and a sudden dizziness so powerful that it had his stomach clenching painfully. He had time to shout, "Bucket!" before his dinner from earlier that evening came back to greet him with a bloody vengeance. Thank God Raven was quick. She may have just saved his mother's precious hardwood with that cool bowl she thrust into his hands in the nick of time. Unfortunately, she sacrificed the life of his mother's favorite Waterford crystal bowl. Ah well. It's not as if she were around anymore to notice.

Raven's steady hand on his back holding him upright helped him to anchor himself to his body. The taste of bile was ripe in his mouth and throat, and with each rapid beat of his heart his head throbbed with agony.

"Water." He croaked pitifully, clutching the bowl for dear life as another tremendous pang of nausea hit him. This time he was able to hold onto it, thank God. Although perhaps that had more to do with the fact that he had nothing left to give up than actual strength on his part?

Raven traded the ruined bowl for a glass cup filled with ice cold water. Honestly, that glass was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, and Raven was positively and angel. The healing liquid slid down his throat so beautifully that he knew he'd found Heaven on Earth right then and there.

_Thank you,_ he projected. He didn't think his voice could take anymore abuse tonight. He sensed a million questions on the tip of her tongue but she had the decency not to ask, and he was not, repeat, NOT going into any more minds for a month! He, however, did have to know, _What happened? _

Raven smiled softly and wiped the sweat from his brow with a damp cloth (when had she gotten that?). _You were in there for nearly two hours. I thought about getting you sooner, but then she started to shift. She looked up at me for just a moment and said, "Thank him, he brought me back," before conking out on the floor right next to you. Just after that you moaned really loud and started thrashing, so I tried to wake you up. It took ten minutes. You know the rest. _She shrugged sheepishly at his embarrassment. He knew she'd never tell anyone about any of this. His sister truly was a godsend.

He glanced over at the young girl on the floor then, her body covered with horrendous wounds made even worse by the lack of concealing fur. Every inch of her was either black, red or blue and she was nothing but skin and bones. But she was human again, and peace issued from her like a sweet vapor. He found himself smiling down at her.

_You are most welcome, my dear. _He pressed the thought into her slumbering mind, knowing that she'd find it in the morning. _Ellaina Hawkschild. _

The last thought that stumbled through his weary mind as Raven carried him back up to his bed was, _Well, at least I now know how they keep finding me. _

_You. Yes you, migraine. I'm afraid you've overstayed your welcome in my head. Please leave and go back to whatever dark crevice you spawned from. Thank you very much. _

He waited. And waited. And waited a little bit more. If at all possible, the horrendous pounding on the inside of his skull seemed to intensify. Charles let out a long and weary sigh, gently rubbing his closed eyelids in the hopes that something (anything!) would banish this persistent cephalalgia. He really hadn't believed that conversing politely with it would do any good what-so-ever, but in his defense, it was beginning to drive him more than a little insane. He thought about popping another pill, but that would bring the running total for the past six hours up to nine and he was beginning to think that he shouldn't have had the last four anyway. Then he thought about turning off all of the lights and shutting the curtains and just going back to bed, but a moment later he realized that the lights _were_ off, the curtains _were _shut and he hadn't even gotten out of bed to begin with. After that he just sort of ran out of ideas.

Charles had never been one to dwell on the negative aspect of anything, so instead he thought about the bright side of his pain and suffering. At least the girl was alright. Well, no she wasn't, but she was human again and likely to remain so. He did, however, get the strangest sensation that he needed to do something. What exactly it was that he needed to do had managed to elude him for the past day as he drifted in and out of consciousness. It was always there, nagging at the back of his mind with an insistent fervor that he couldn't quite place.

Damn him and his weakness! Never before had exploring another's mind left him so ill. He only hoped that it would be worth it when they got the girl back on her own two feet. Emphasis on _two._ She'd need a hospital that would treat mutants first and-

Wait a minute! That was it! That was the thing he needed to do! The poor girl needed a hospital desperately! Ellaina, he told himself. They must start referring to her as Ellaina.

A wave of apprehension washed over him when he thought about her. What exactly had Raven done with her while he struggled to retain his sanity and what little food he'd managed to force down his throat? He'd been nearly delirious since he came back into his own body, and-he was ashamed to admit-he hadn't thought of Ellaina one time since then. He trusted Raven implicitly, but medical training was not among her many qualifications.

_Raven, _he thought, prodding her gently with his mind. _Ellaina needs a hospital and I've been too far gone to even consider where. Could you-_

_I've already got it taken care of, Charles, _she cut him off. _I was just waiting for you to come back to yourself. That's the first lucid thought I've gotten from you all day. _She sent him an image of Ellaina's yet unconscious form snuggled firmly in one of the spare beds. The sheets were already soaked through with scarlet. They didn't have much time.

_Alright. Be gentle and bring her to the front door. I'll meet you there, _he thought before severing the mental link and lurching to his feet. There was absolutely nothing in the world right now that he wanted more than to just lay back down and sleep for six months, but there was a dying mutant in his home right now who needed him, and by God, he would do everything within his power to see her well again.

Even he had to admit that he had not been full of brilliant ideas lately. As opposed to valiantly landing on the floor and taking off sprinting for the front of the house like some kind of superhero, he just sort of wobbled for a moment before toppling forward onto his knees, then onto his face. Another sigh and a mighty groan of strain had him back upright and half-stumbling, half-running to catch up to Raven.

It took him about ten minutes longer than normal, and Raven was tapping her foot impatiently by the time he managed to reach her. She may have been carrying a large pillow for all the effort she showed lifting the thin, wraith-like girl. Another pang of pity struck him. What had happened to her? What had she done to deserve such treatment? He planned to find out. _After _she was good and healed.

_I'll get the car. _A firm hand on his chest stopped him before he could take a step.

"Like hell you will! I'm driving." Raven's 'normal' face in stubborn mode did not allow for argument. So with yet another sigh, he wobbled off after her.

Though neither of them were old enough to drive yet and the chauffer had taken off when Charles's mother had, Charles had read enough minds over the years to understand the basic concept of the vehicle and the road. He'd meant to start practicing soon, but never really got around to it. Add that to the already massive list of things he'd 'never really gotten around to' while he was busy working on his degree from Harvard, and you would have yourself a nice thick book to pass the time. Usually, he could just get one of the landscapers or house maids to take them where they needed to go, but all of the staff had recently resigned after finding out about his mutant nature. So he was forced to sit in the passenger seat and feed Raven a steady stream of instructions as he tried to keep as many people as possible out of their way.

Fortunately, they made it to the nearest 'mutant friendly' hospital without much incident. Unless you count that bloke back on 7th, but he got out of the way in time. Unfortunately, the closest place that would even see mutants was about an hour away. By the time they arrived, both kids were trembling slightly with nerves frayed from the drive over. They did not have time to linger on their discomfort, however, and Charles put on his brave face and got out of the vehicle.

The woman at the front desk was both shocked and disgusted by the sight that greeted her when two teenagers in their nightclothes walked into the building, a filthy and wounded young girl supported between them. Before she could even blink, Charles had his fingers to his temple, his mind reaching out for hers.

"Inform Dr. Carmichael that Mr. Xavier is here with an emergency, please," he told her as he pressed the compulsion to obey into her psyche. Without a word, the nurse picked up the phone, pressed a few buttons and relayed the message.

"He's just down the hall, first door on the left," the woman informed them with a somewhat dreamy quality to her voice and eyes cloudy and blank.

"Thank you. Forget our faces." He and Raven disappeared from her memory as they circled the desk and took the first left door on the massive hallway of doors. How anyone ever found where they were going in a place like this was beyond him.

The man that was patiently awaiting them on the other side of the door was enormous, approximately six foot five with a hulking body that ruined any and all semblance of personal space in the tiny room. They'd stationed the mutant doctor in the smallest space in the entire hospital, judging by the disgruntled tang to the doctor's thoughts. Of course.

Dr. Carmichael's reaction to Ellaina was somewhat more agreeable than the nurse's, but Charles knew he didn't think she had much of a chance. Well, he'd damned well better try anyway. "This young woman was found in my home last night. We thought you may be able to help." He didn't even have to put the man under compulsion; he'd already resigned himself to doing whatever possible for her. It wasn't necessarily out of pity or compassion. He was just bored. Not exactly promising, but at this point beggars could not afford to be choosers.

"Put her there," he said gruffly with a vague gesture at the table behind him. Charles and Raven had to inch their way around the man with their backs against the wall to get there. He would need to have a little chat with that nurse again on the way out. "You guys can't be in here while I'm workin'. I ain't got enough room for ya. You can just go back out to the waitin' room. I'll call ya when I'm done."

Raven looked at him suspiciously. _What the hell? Is this guy some sort of quack? Should we really be leaving her with him? _

_He'll do all he can, but the hospital gives him very little to work with. He is a highly skilled physician. His mutation aides with his practice, I believe. She'll be fine here. _He tried to reassure her as he tried to reassure himself. With one last look at Ellaina's sleeping face, he took Raven's hand and led her back out to the waiting room.

Charles hated hospitals. Part of it was the sheer volume of overwhelming sadness and pain leaking from every mind in the vast building, and part of it was the smell. That horrid, chemical odor that clung to everything like it was clinging to the back of his throat. His eyes closed as his head throbbed once again. Damn, he thought he'd gotten rid of the headache. The stark fluorescent lights that were beating down on his eyes even as they were closed didn't help much at all, and the weary babbling hitting him from every direction was only making it much, much worse. He enjoyed living out in Westchester where the only other mind voice besides his was Raven. It was quiet there, and he liked quiet. It was usually easier to concentrate on his studies that way.

Oh no, he had that exam coming up after break that he needed to study for! Why couldn't he have thought to bring it?

"Are you ok?" Raven asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You look even more pathetic now than you did ten seconds ago"

"Thank you for that bleak assessment, Raven. I've completely forgotten to study for that big exam after we get back from break." He rubbed a hand over his face and slumped forward in a most uncharacteristic manner. "I'm certain I'm going to fail."

"Well, you could always just pluck the answers right of Professor Idiot's head." She had started referring to his quantum physics professor as Professor Idiot purely out of spite, but that was just Raven.

He cast a withering glance her way before catching his head in his hands and staring at the floor. "And you know bloody well that I won't do that."

"Yeah, but it was worth a shot." Her hand moved to his back and began to slide up and down, the friction sending a most delightful warmth right down to his weary bones. Has he said how wonderful Raven is yet? "Do you know what's going on in there?"

Without even lifting his head, Charles cast out for the massive doctor and began a sarcastic running commentary on his every motion. "He's raising his right hand now. He's moving it to the left. Now he's moving it down. He's grasping some sort of saline solution. He is taking the solution to a wound on her left forearm. He is lightly squeezing the solution. The solution is running onto the wound. The solution is cleaning the wound. Now he's-"

"Ok, I get it!" Raven said, leaning down to clap a hand over his mouth. "Just give me the big picture."

"So far all he's done is try to clean out her wounds. They were filthy from her little romp through the woods to get to our house. He's gotten what he can, but he's still thinking that there might already be an infection. We'll have to watch her closely," he paused, probing. "After that, he'll stitch up the lacerations and apply a healing ointment to the smaller ones. She's not going to a pretty sight for a while, I'm afraid. He thinks she'll have extensive scarring on top of scarring that's already there. Good lord, what on Earth have they done to her?"

"Do you think she'll ever want to tell us?" Raven asked.

He barked a humorless laugh. "I highly doubt it, and I'm not ever going that deep into her mind again."

What time was it? He brought his wrist up to check…and his watch wasn't there. Lovely. A quick scan of the walls revealed a standard clock as plain and boring as everything else in there. Another thing he hated about hospitals: they were all the same and all so…so…sterile.

Eight o' clock. Blast it! There would be very little sleeping going on at home that night. A quick check on the doctor's progress revealed that only about half of the wounds had been cleaned. Time enough for a nap then. Wordlessly, he migrated to one of those chairs that's actually two chairs put together without an armrest, curled up as best he could and did his utmost to fall asleep.

Restless dreams plagued him in his fit-full sleep. Visions of ravenous beasts, their slavering maws reaching for him, danced around his brain. A man with onyx eyes stood over him then morphed into a creature that was but skin and bones. Everywhere, the chemical odor of the hospital permeated even his nightmares. The clock loomed above him, warped and twisted as it ticked and tocked at him mockingly. The whole world was shaking, back and forth, back and forth…

_Charles! _it shouted. _Charles! _It demanded his attention.

"Charles!" His eyes snapped open and Raven let him go, kneeling to look him in the eyes. "Wake up, the doctor's finished."

Charles hauled himself upright and onto his feet once again. The prospect of going home soon was the only thing that kept him going.

Without a single word, his thoughts shut down tightly, the doctor handed Charles a supply bag with a list of instructions and Raven the girl. Before they could even thank him, he turned and lumbered away. Charles moved toward the nurse who was snoozing on her desk. Pressing a compulsion into her mind he said, "You will find some way to give that doctor a larger room and better supplies. You will forget we were ever here."

Again, Charles helped Raven navigate her way back to the mansion and kept the few drivers they encountered well out of their way. It was after midnight when they finally arrived back home, and for a moment, Charles simply reveled in the sweet silence that greeted him. Neither he nor Raven said anything as they carried Ellaina and their things inside, and the whole affair took on a calm and peaceful aura. As long as they did everything right, she'd be ok. The fact that sleep was near put their minds at ease as well.

For now there was still work to be done. He checked the list. The top item was: _Get her clean and comfortable_. He could handle that.

"Raven, could you bring her some of your old pajamas, please along with undergarments and a brush for her hair," he asked, taking Ellaina and carrying her to the nearest bathroom. Raven nodded and vanished up the staircase.

He laid Ellaina down on the small couch, (yes, he had a couch in his bathroom) set about gathering things and preparing a warm, soothing bath. He couldn't lay her in it unless he wanted her to drown and all of her stitches to fall out (which he most certainly did not), so instead he moved the couch close enough to reach the tub and waited for Raven to return. She appeared shortly, an armful of affects clutched to her chest.

"I'll leave her in your capable hands, my dear," he said as he handed her the medicine bag and instruction list and respectfully withdrew.

_Charles? _Raven's mind voice asked when his foot touched the bottom stair.

_Yes?_

_Go get some sleep. I'll take care of her. _Warm and gentle concern saturated her thoughts, but it wasn't directed at him. She pitied Ellaina yes, but it was more than that. She'd decided on the drive home that no matter what happened, the girl was a part of their family now. In Ellaina she sensed a kindred spirit, a defenseless, beaten girl forced to take refuge wherever she could find it, and she had no intention of turning her away. Good, Charles thought. I hadn't either.

He found that he rather enjoyed this new, softer side of his sister and was able to go to bed with a light heart. Ellaina was in good hands now. She may never be quite as close as he and Raven were, but when she'd stumbled upon their kitchen, she'd stumbled upon a home.

**Slightly cheesy ending, but I rather enjoy a little bit of cheese now and again. In case you've already read the first chapter and are now confused as to why it's twice as long as it was yesterday, I sort of decided after I started writing this to make it into a kind of prologue. However, I didn't want to have a two chapter prologue so I just mashed the two chappies together to make one large chappie. I apologize now for any mistakes. I'm editing this at about eleven and my brain is starting to go a bit fuzzy. **

**Thank you so very much to all of you who have subscribed or favorited this already! You are my inspiration and I cannot express my astonishment or gratitude enough. I didn't think the story would be this popular, so once again thank you! I couldn't do it without your support! Now you just have to take that last step. Scroll down a little more and click that innocent little review button! Your reviews are what keep me motivated! :)**


	2. Deformities and Decisions Live Here

**Thanks so much to all of you who reviewed, favorited or subscribed to this story! You are my inspiration. :)**

**This chap is a bit shorter just because I got impatient and couldn't wait to post!**

OxOxO

"It's a trick question, Charles," the young woman on the couch said, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose without taking her eyes from the massive stack of paper in her hands.

"No, my dear, I'm afraid it isn't," Charles Xavier lifted his head from his own stack to look at her over the rim of his own glasses. "You either believe one or the other, and I want an honest answer. So, which do you think is accurate, God or evolution?" Without moving his lips he added, _I could always just look…_

"And I can give you two very good reasons why you won't." She did sit up then, rising from where she had been lying on her back with her legs dangling over the arm of the couch. The paper stack made a soft slapping sound as she tossed it behind her quite carelessly. The glasses soon joined it and Charles was granted an unobstructed view of her face. Those bright green eyes, high cheekbones and nearly flawless complexion bore so little resemblance to the bleeding runaway she'd been thirteen years ago when she broke into his kitchen in the middle of the night. It still astounded him even today. She'd come so far in so little time that sometimes he wondered if she really was the same girl. Then he studied her hair, still the same auburn that fell nearly to her waist, and the thick, ropy scar that stretched from somewhere in her hair over her left temple down to her jaw, and he remembered.

She held up two fingers and touched the tip of each as she gave her reasons. "One, I'll go grizzly on your ass, and two, the first time you did, you were still out of it when I woke up." His smug expression melted and she knew she had him there. It was her turn to don a satisfied smile, and she cocked one eyebrow in an unspoken challenge.

"You'd better watch that eyebrow. It might try to escape," he said, turning back to whatever it was he was reading, poised defeat oozing from every pore. "You still have to answer me."

"Fine," she huffed, resuming the position and retrieving her own report and glasses from over the top of her head. "Honest answer, right?"

"Mmm hmm," he hummed in acknowledgment, those crystalline eyes with their many facets flicking up to glance at her then back at his work.

Her simple but no less contradictory answer was, "Both." That threw him for a loop.

"What?" His eyes peeked back over the rim of his glasses at her incredulously. She got him again! Man, she was on fire today! "You can't say both. Either you believe God created man or you don't." The giant paper stack migrated to the desk behind him with his glasses perched neatly on top. "So, I want your honest answer, Ellie." He pressed his fingertips together under his chin and leaned forward to stare her down with that unblinking gaze that said, 'I really want to read your mind right now'.

"If you'd let me finish, you might get it," she flashed him a tiny glare.

His hands went up in surrender. The fire in the famous Ellie glare in any volume could be deadly, and it wasn't just her eyes that held a ferocious spark. It always seemed to consume her, flickering over her hair in the sunlight, lighting up the gold sheen of her skin and illuminating that already dangerous attitude.

"As I was saying," she began with a warning glance his way. "I believe that both ideas are accurate to some extent. Do I believe that God actually said a few words and Adam materialized out of nothing? No. Could he have? Yes, but I've come to understand that much of what's in the Bible is symbolic. If he'd wanted to he could have made Adam the same way he made the world, but evidence pointing at evolution is undeniable and proves this theory impossible. However, everything else on Earth, the time, the environment, and various other factors that led to the evolution of the modern human lined up so perfectly that chance can be ruled out as well. How are we supposed to believe that with one shot at this particular end goal, the exact circumstances needed to give birth to what we are today miraculously fell into place all by themselves with no sort of divine intervention or plan in place? Therefore, it is my professional opinion that God created the circumstances required to lead to our evolution as opposed to just molding us out of nothing. Hence, both theories are accurate."

Again, thrown for a loop. Why had he never thought of it in that way before? Charles had never been the religious type, but the way she put it made the idea of a higher being almost plausible. "You know, I'd never thought of it that way before. You may be onto something, my friend," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

She winked at him and stood up, raising her arms above her head and stretching languorously. The only flaw in her liquid grace was the way that her right leg didn't quite straighten all the way and the manner in which she tucked it in as if it pained her, which in fact, it did. He found himself struggling not to stare, but even when he looked away that fire flitted temptingly on the edge of his vision. The sweet tang of apples and electric pain that accompanied her mind heightened for a moment before settling back down the constant faint flavor he was used to.

Without another word she gathered her things and padded silently out of his study on her bare feet. Today she moved like a cat, swift, fluid and silent. Quite a pleasant change from yesterday when she'd been channeling a crocodile. The hot flares of temper had nearly been too much for him to handle. Were it not for thirteen years of practice when it came to Ellie and her bizarre moods and his own iron determination and patience, he was fairly certain he would have snapped. With a small shake of his head and an affectionately annoyed smile he turned back to his report, but not before he received a thought from Ellie's steadily receding mind.

_When are we going back up to school? _

_The day after tomorrow we'll start preparing. You and I both have lectures on Tuesday,_ he sent back. Her thoughts picked up in a whir of activity, already planning what to bring and considering the many places her notes and aides could have wandered off to. The poor girl was always losing something. She may have already lost her head by now if it hadn't been attached. Another shake of the head and another soft smile at her harmless antics and it was back to work. His eyes skimmed over the last few pages of his latest genetics report, seeing without really understanding. He'd been distracted a bit too much in the past few hours. It wasn't that he minded at all. He always seemed to have time for his sister and best friend (the first time he'd tried to refer to Ellie as his sister she'd decked him a good one. Never again). It was just that they always managed to derail his train of thought, no matter how serious and no matter how much he really needed to concentrate. Ah well, he could always finish it tomorrow.

He stood, filing the sheaf back in its proper place and neatly stowing his glasses away. God, he was not looking forward to his first lecture on Tuesday. He'd given dozens of lectures before while he was in school at the request of his less brilliant professors, but now, after he'd earned a Ph.D. in several fields, it just seemed too…real. Any moment now people would start referring to him as 'professor' and he would start to lose his hair. He was only twenty eight for crying out loud! He was in the prime of his life and already he was starting to feel senile.

In a sudden fit of rebelliousness, he yanked open the top three buttons on his light blue, perfectly pressed and dapper shirt. Tuesday night, after his lecture and the completion of his thesis, he'd have some fun no matter what it took. He may even take the girls out for drinks. Raven, of course, would have cola if he had anything to say about it, which he did (again, the first time he tried to keep Ellie from drinking, she'd done it anyway and given him a nice smack across the back of his head). Hm, now that he thought about it, Raven was the only one of the two girls that did actually listen to him. Maybe he should learn from the wild one and not follow so many of other people's rules. Yes, he quite liked the sound of that.

He'd just set off down the hallway, his enormous mind running through every possible law he could break without getting in any real trouble when the emerald flare down and to the right in his mind vision lit up and sparked with white-hot pain that had him blinking in surprise. Damn, that was Ellie.

Almost without thinking he reached out, connecting with her gently and seeing what she saw and feeling what she felt. He felt the hard flooring of the kitchen pressing against her back and a steady, powerful throb with its nexus in her right hip. He saw the distant ceiling through her eyes and knew what had happened.

_That leg's paining you again isn't it? _he asked gently.

_No, not at all, Charles, _she snapped as she lay on the floor, venom dripping from her thoughts as if he'd sprayed perfume on his tongue. _I just decided to hurt myself and fall flat on my ass! _

He said nothing. She was angry at herself and in pain. He knew he needed to just let her vent a little.

A heartbeat later she came back. _I'm sorry, _she said softly. _It…twinges…from time to time, and when I…turn just so it tends to…just…fall away from me. _The last part was a whisper so low he could barely catch it. She was hesitant to tell him about her weaknesses, but he understood why. In the animal kingdom, and therefore Ellie's mind, it was eat or be eaten. Admitting or showing weakness was as good as signing your own death warrant. It meant an easy meal for any predators for miles around, and he knew from her experience that they _would _come to collect if they sensed vulnerability. She was a shape-shifter and she carried the essence of all of her forms (they were still uncertain as to the extent of her abilities) around with her at all times. She was both animal and human and was constantly at war with herself, both sides vying for control. He knew how uncomfortable it made her to talk about her pains, and her trust in him filled him with a warm sensation that was not unpleasant. He loved her for it even if he felt sadly undeserving.

_If you need anything…_he let the last part go unspoken. She wouldn't take him up on it anyway and outright asking if she was alright or wanted help would only make her feel worse.

_I don't. _She let irritation seep back into her thoughts. _But thank you, _she added a bit more gently, picking herself up off the floor. He withdrew from her mind and tried not to notice the painfully obvious limp that had shadowed her for years.

_Raven, _he called. _Do you think you could bring up some lunch? I'm trying to put the finishing touches on this thesis and really can't put it down. Perhaps we can go out later, just the two of us? _Ellie wouldn't be happy about that, but she would have to get used to it.

By the time Raven entered the room, he'd successfully found his study zone again and tried not to lose it. He should have known it would be a losing battle. He looked at the clock. Eight. Well, it wasn't lunch so much as a late snack. That was good, losing time meant he'd gotten a lot done.

"After I've finished, we can go," he mumbled around his delicious sandwich. Raven really was a delightful cook. Or at least a delightful stacker of cold meats, cheeses and condiments. For just a moment, he allowed himself to close his eyes and just enjoy his sandwich. He hadn't known just how hungry he really was until the food had touched his tongue. A soft moan of pleasure escaped his throat before he could stop it, but then again, he hadn't really wanted to.

"What's this?" Raven's voice and a gentle tug on his still unbuttoned shirt jerked him out of his reverie. She was grinning at him slyly when he started babbling like the idiot he really was deep down.

"I-what? No, it's not-I mean-I was just…ah…" he just sort of trailed off when he realized that he was getting nowhere with his not-so-explanation. Raven laughed whole heartedly and moved to help him when his shaking and frantic hands failed to redo the buttons on his shirt. So much for rebellion.

"You should have left it," she laughed, weaving her arm through his and leading him out the door. "Your prospects might actually respond to the whole mutant spiel." His sister just enjoyed causing him pain and humiliation. That's what it was.

"Have fun!" A voice floated down to them from Ellie's upstairs suite (they gave her more space for all of the…things she needed to keep the beast happy). Damn! He'd been caught! His mind cringed away slightly, bracing him for the wave of fury he was expecting. Instead, all he felt was warm amusement. Curious. "I'm a cat today, remember? I hear everything. Go out with your sister and stop worrying about my opinion so much. Besides, I don't think picking up women works too well when you already have two of them with you. Raven as your sister's ok, but add another and call her your friend and that's it. Get out of here you two!"

And so they did.

A few hours later, Ellie was roused from her sleep by the sounds of a very irritated Raven slamming the door and stomping around like she tended to do on gorilla days. Charles entered a bit more gracefully and shut the door with a bit more care. She didn't hear a third person so he must have struck out again, poor guy. When exactly was he going to figure out that women do _not_ like being called mutants unless they can just zap you with their incredible mutant powers? Comment on the mutation in her eyes or her hair and you may have just scored a good slap to the cheek, but that isn't really what he was looking to score, now was it?

Effectively barred from sleep for now (cat naps were never very long anyway) she rubbed it's aftereffects from her eyes and tugged on her favorite silk robe, heading down stairs. "Nothing, huh?" she called as Charles came into view. As usual, she felt a tiny shock deep in her chest when those shards of sky landed on her. And as usual, she hid her feelings expertly.

He sent her a sad smile and shook his head. "Nothing but a not-so-happy Raven, I'm afraid."

"Ah, well. You can't win them all I suppose, or some other silly cliché that might make you feel better."

His soft laughter sent another small thrill through her veins, turning them to ice. "Did we wake you?"

"Nah, I was just cat-napping." Small lies came so easily when she was channeling feline. "You going to finish that thesis tonight or wait until tomorrow?"

"I think I'll try to get it done tonight. You should go back to bed." Fat chance now, pal. He probably heard that, but she didn't really care. What she did care about was getting a little something to eat. She was suddenly starving. She vanished into the kitchen as Charles vanished into his study.

Ellie struggled to resist craning her neck around to watch him walk away. There would be no way she could keep thoughts that loud from reaching him, then she'd be in for some humiliation. If only she were confident or beautiful like the women he tried to chase so ineptly. _She _might actually respond to him if he at least tried it on her, but that was just a silly dream. Besides, he was too much of an old fart sometimes. He had his endearing moments, yes, but when all he thought about was his school work and their mutations it left little time for him to be anybody else.

Mutation. What an odd word. Mutant. She was a mutant. The words tasted a bit like vinegar, even in her own mind. It meant deformed, not right. It meant imperfect. Was she imperfect? Was she flawed? Well, yes for obvious reasons. She would be flawed even if she was a normal human. Her bad leg and myriad of scars made sure of that. Maybe the real reason that Charles always used the mutant line to talk to women wasn't that he actually thought it would get him a date. Maybe it was because he was trying to prepare as many people as he could for their kind 'coming out' so to speak. Perhaps he was just trying to convince everyone that the word 'mutant' didn't necessarily mean imperfect. He called their mutations sexy and beautiful and in the end had them believing it. Ellie liked to think that that was the real end game. That he was already fighting for them before the conflict had even been thought of, and there would be a conflict, of that she was certain. She hoped to God that his plan-if that was the plan-was working. She prayed that at least one of the girls who had fallen for it really did end up believing it. Maybe she would see other, more potent mutations as beautiful too. Then they would have one more to fight for their cause.

A sudden and unexpected hopelessness came over her, catching her up in bitter despair and turning the sandwich in her mouth to ash. Suddenly she wasn't so hungry anymore and she found herself fighting tears. She was strong, she didn't cry. Tears meant weakness and weakness meant death.

Couldn't he see that it was hopeless? Mankind would never accept them for what they really were. It feared what it didn't understand and moved to eliminate everything that didn't fit into its narrow view of the universe. They'd seen it with the Africans, they'd seen it with the Jews and the gays and the gypsies. They'd seen different cultures doing it to their own people, selling rival tribes into slavery simply because they were a little bit different. Wherever they were, whatever color they were, man was always trying to dominate everything. Even each other. If not even the mutants understood mutation, how on God's green Earth could they expect the rest of the world to? It was only a matter of time before they were headed for the slaughterhouses and camps of their own. The American people, their countrymen, would turn on them and become the very thing the claimed to so despise. It was only a matter of when.

Raven's voice from down the hall echoed her own morbid thoughts. "Mutant and proud!" Her voice dripped with disdain. What was there to be proud of? She was blue for crying out loud! She had to spend half of her effort every day just trying to look normal. Why? Because society would rip her to shreds-possibly very literally-if she showed her true skin in public. Raven was the only one of the three of them who truly couldn't pass in public well. Maybe Ellie could do something about that, something that would make her feel a little better? What if she wore her wings in public? What if she wore tail-feathers? Feathers could be worn beautifully as opposed to…say, an alligator tail or a wolf snout. Of course, no one would see them as beautiful. All they would see is a freak. Charles would never approve. He may compel her to change, but she would still try. Raven deserved a little consideration now and again.

With that thought and her steel determination shoving aside all other negative thoughts or feelings, she dumped the sandwich remains and trekked off to bed before she heard any of the very private conversation that was going on in the other room.

The next few days passed by in a blur, both Charles and Ellie scrambling to make last minute preparations and changes to their presentations. Charles also had his thesis to publish so he was under double the pressure. She would have tried to help, but she was an anthropologist who would be talking about the emergence of anthropomorphic religions and was sadly incapable of understanding him when he started to talk all geneticist-y. The only time she'd tried to help out on some homework of his, she'd wound up with a massive migraine for three days. Insides just weren't her forte.

So she stuck to her own little world where things made sense and let him stick to his. She managed to find her notes (in exactly the same place she'd put them) on top of the filing cabinet under one of her artifacts, and managed to lose the most important artifact she had at the same time. She spent several hours scouring her suite for the damn thing only to realize that it was the same artifact that she had moved from on top of her notes to the desk and then laid a jacket over. Then she spilt her coffee all over her notes and had to type out an entire new copy on the horridly slow mimeograph she had on the desk as well. It wasn't as if she had a better mode of getting her notes on paper, but the task still took about four hours of being hunched over the machine and pounding the keys to make sure they stuck. By the time she was finished, she had a massive neck cramp that refused to leave her alone and the sun had dipped below the horizon. So she got up, rubbed her neck a little, took a shower and went to sleep.

OxOxO

She came downstairs the next morning with her bag slung over her shoulder, dressed conservatively in a simple, emerald green dress with long sleeves and a modest hemline. Her shoes were simple black leather pumps and she wore her favorite necklace, and emerald set in gold. Her hair was down and lightly tousled. "How do I look?" she asked, spinning around to give Charles and Raven the full picture.

"Professional."

"Lov-."

Charles choked a little bit on the air when he saw that she'd completely removed the back from that dress. What on Earth was she thinking? "Ellie, what _have _you done to that dress?" he asked, gaping at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Oh! That reminds me!" She'd nearly forgotten.

Charles felt her decision before he saw her start to shift. "Dear God, you are _not-_"

But she was and she did. Her face scrunched up in concentration and she actually started to tremble with the enormous effort she was having to exert. For some reason, partial transformations were always harder for her. Her face was nearly purple by the time her russet colored hawk's wings were complete. Charles thought about stopping her, but breaking her concentration would get her stuck halfway between and that could be disastrous.

"There," she said, panting heavily as her face regained its usual color.

"What-"

"The hell-"

"-are you-"

"-doing," Charles and Raven said at exactly the same time. His expression of shock and horror slightly lessened the effect of the dashing little suit and poised aura he was trying to exude. Raven was staring at her with her mouth wide open and her eyes gleaming with both shock and pleasure.

"I should think that that's painfully obvious," she said-still a little breathlessly-and stuck her hands on her hips. "I'm wearing my wings to work today." And that was that. She adjusted her bag and set off for the door of the small house.

"Wait a moment, you are not going out to give a lecture looking like that!" She didn't even stop to listen to Charles get angry. She could picture his face as the lines grew steadily deeper and the skin got a little redder.

"Oh, yes I am. Try to stop me, Charles," she shot back, her hand hovering over the door knob. "If Raven can't go out in public as herself without being ostracized, neither can I. It's time the world knew what I am and what I'm capable of. If that changes the way people listen to my lectures, so be it." With subtle lift of the chin in defiance, she opened the door and stepped out. She didn't see the look of awe on Raven's face or the tiny sparkle of a tear in her eye.

Charles, on the other hand, was practically fuming. She would expose them all and get herself killed! Couldn't she see that this affected the rest of them and not just her? Sure, his thesis and presentation were about genetic mutation and the affect it could have on human beings, but the world certainly did not need to know that they had already happened. It would be genocide, and it would start with one of his best friends.

He reached out to her mind, probing for the train of thought that had led to this decision. He swore to her that he would never use his ability against her, but this was about more than just her. It had to be done for the sake of their kind. He followed her into the yard, reaching farther and farther in until…there is was. He just had to seize that thought and…BAM! A solid steel wall slammed down on the connection so hard and fast that it snapped, throwing Charles back at himself with the recoil.

"What the-?" Caught off-guard and startled beyond belief, he stumbled backward and fell right on his bottom. Hard. What the bloody hell had that been?

A hand reached out to help him up. He took it-not really knowing what else to do-and found himself face to face with a very smug and very angry looking Ellie.

"I've been practicing," she practically snarled. "You swore that you would never do that, to either of us! How dare you, Charles Xavier? Did you really think I wasn't expecting you to try it anyway? Did you really think that I wouldn't be prepared for it?" The inferno that blazed in her eyes was so bright and burning hot that he had to look away. It wasn't just in her eyes, it was in her mind too. She'd let up the wall for now, but he knew that if he tried to compel her again she'd slam it back down and give him a nice whack to the back of the head for good measure.

With a low growl rumbling deep in her chest she whirled around and stalked off for the car, Raven close behind. Those wings (he would never admit it to her but they were quite possibly the most marvelous things he had ever seen) fluttered behind her like some sort of majestic cloak. They looked slightly out of place with the moderate dress but amazing all the same. Even so, he couldn't shake the feeling that something truly awful was about to take place. Something they may all live to regret.

**And that concludes the second chapter of The House That Xavier Built. It is a little bit shorter than the last one but that's just cuz I'm really impatient and couldn't wait to get it out there to you guys! **

**I really, really appreciate all of the favorites and subscriptions, but what really keeps me going people are your reviews! I would sincerely love it if you would send me some actual feedback. Do you love it, do you hate it, what needs work, etc? It doesn't hurt. Really. **


	3. Home of the Brave

Ellie's wings rustled nervously against her back as she ascended the steps into the anthropology department. She wasn't exactly expecting a large turnout (she was a woman after all), but the more people there were, the higher the risk she was taking by doing this. Charles was furious, more angry than she'd ever seen him before. He hadn't said a word to her on the way to the university, and the only time he'd looked at her, his incredible eyes had been icy and cold. It hurt her heart to see him so angry with her, but didn't he see that it had to be done? He fit in so easily. Raven did not, so neither would she. The world needed to know.

Determined but fearful, she adjusted her shoulder strap and entered the building.

_Oh, dear God be with me._ She sent a silent prayer to the heavens as the sheer volume of humans rushed out to greet her. She'd never expected this many people to attend her lecture, not in a million years. There must have been at least a hundred of them, possibly many more (she was terrible with numbers). So many people to see her for what she was. So many opportunities for kindness to fail and fear to win them over. Well, there was no going back now. With her heart hammering loudly in her chest, she stepped up to the podium and began to speak.

She smelled their fear the first time she pivoted to pick something up out of her bag. She heard the shocks and gasps that they tried to conceal. She heard them start to get up and she heard them leave. She never faltered, not once, even as she was holding her breath and waiting for the shot that would end her right there on the stage. It never came. People didn't usually bring guns with them to lectures, but she would need to be careful from now on. Now that everyone knew about her mutation, there would be guns in her lecture halls. She had to be prepared.

By the time she had finished, there were only about ten people left in the auditorium. They all sat on the front row, watching her back with eyes bright and wondrous. They probably weren't really listening to her speech anymore, but at least they hadn't left yet. When she stepped down they rushed her, shaking her hands and ooing and ahing and reaching out to touch her feathers. Ellie really didn't think that they were dangerous so she let them until they had all migrated out the door, chatting excitedly amongst themselves.

The door thudded shut and silence fell just as she collapsed into the nearest chair, her pent up tension from the last hour escaping in a rush of trembles and ragged gasps for air. She was alive. Nearly everyone had gotten up and left, but she was alive. Now, to get out of this ridiculous dress, find Charles and have a little fun.

After she'd run home and put on something a bit more comfortable (like her favorite skirt, black boots and a blazer) she still had time to catch the last few minutes of Charles's presentation. Maybe if she did and he saw she was unharmed he wouldn't be so angry anymore. It was a longshot, but she would take it.

The first thing she noticed upon entering the (much larger and more full) auditorium was a woman lurking around just inside the door. She was so far away from the stage that Charles's words were horribly muffled and nearly indiscernible. What exactly was she doing way back here? The woman eyed her warily. It's a good thing she'd already put her wings away, but she still couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable under the woman's oddly suspicious gaze. Hm, nervous little thing. As Ellie swept past she got a whiff of the woman's scent. She smelled of government, old leather and secrets, but there was something else. Ah yes, fear. The woman was rank with fear. The scent grew stronger as she moved in the direction the air conditioning was blowing. It was a wonder that the others around couldn't smell it too.

The auditorium was dim, but even in the dark she could see that it was nearly overflowing. People were sitting or standing in the aisles and she had to push past many of them to get to where Raven was seated. God bless Raven, she'd saved one seat just for her.

"How'd it go?" Raven whispered when she took it, rubbing her hip as the constant ache began to mount in intensity.

"Not very well. Just about everyone got up and left, but I'm still here so it wasn't a total loss." Raven's lovely blue eyes darkened and her lips turned down in a sympathetic frown.

"I'm sorry."

"Ah, like I said, I'm still here," Ellie replied sounding far more chipper than she actually was. That lecture had been a disaster. The entire world would soon know about her and then she, Charles and Raven would be in serious danger. Even so, she was convinced that it had been the right thing to do. "Is he almost finished?" He was really getting into it now. His crystal eyes were lit up like they always did when he got excited about his work. It was almost the same look that small children get on Christmas day, as if he's just found something wonderful like the solution to all man's problems. Who knows? Maybe he had. He was beautiful up there, lit from above by a single golden light, his cream-and-roses English skin as fine as porcelain. He positively glowed with excitement and it only made him all the more alluring to her. She found herself watching the small gestures he made, a flick of the wrist, a tiny step forward, and committing every single one to memory. He enraptured her as surely as he had enraptured his audience. They didn't really come here to listen to a lecture about genetics. They came for Charles.

Ellie's fiery green eyes dimmed to a warm ember filled with too many emotions to name them all, but Raven could identify a few. There was awe and fascination and appreciation and one more thing she didn't think even Ellie had noticed yet. Oh boy, this was going to take some serious skill to hide from him. Thankfully, she'd had years of practice and he tried his best to keep out of her head.

As soon as Charles had finished (panting slightly with a light sheen of sweat on his brow) and the audience had concluded its standing ovation (finally), he gathered his things and joined the two of them on the front row, shaking a thousand hands and returning a thousand smiles. After what seemed like hours, the auditorium began to clear out and the three were given a little bit of space.

"You made it," he said, smiling gently at the young woman sitting beside his sister. She was safe, thank God and that took a little bit of the edge off of his earlier anger. It was rash, yes, but it did need to be done sooner or later. She hadn't been completely forgiven, especially for the surprise attack when he'd tried to stop her, but her intentions had been purely selfless and he had to respect that about her.

Relief and happiness flooded through her and his own smile imprinted itself firmly in her memory. "I did," she said, looking quite a bit shocked herself. "Everyone got up and left, but I'm still in one piece." She looked over her body and patted herself a few times for emphasis.

"I see that, and I am glad for it. Now, who wants to have a bit of fun tonight?" He needed to have fun and his girls were just the two people he wanted to spend time with right now. The breath he'd been holding since Ellie had grown her wings that morning escaped in a gratifying rush and he flung his arms over their shoulders and led them out of the auditorium with the last few spectators. Charles was the only one aware of the CIA operative that followed them out, hanging back and hoping that no one saw her. On any other occasion, Charles wouldn't have hesitated to read her thoughts, find out what she was after, but today was different and all he wanted to do was what _he _wanted to do. "The thesis has been finished and the lecture has been given. Off to the nearest pub!" His sister and his best friend wrapped their arms around him in return and the three of them set off, tension melting out of their shoulders like hot butter.

OxOxO

The Foxhunter was filled nearly to the brim with young people just let out from classes or fresh from Charles's presentation. It was loud, it was raucous and it was packed with Oxford students who had been bursting at the seams for weeks under the pressure of exams and finishing their degrees, but the trio thought it was just what they needed.

Within five minutes, Charles had shed his jacket and acquired a yard of ale from some idiot who dared suggest the stupid game. He took the glass and glanced up at the two girls wearing two very different expressions. Raven seemed to be egging him on with her eyes, beaming from ear to ear while Ellie was eyeing him skeptically, her body language and her thoughts telling him that she didn't think he could do it.

"What?" he asked. "Don't you believe in me?" He would show her. He could be fun. He could handle a little bit of alcohol just as well as she could.

"That's one magical eyebrow you have Charles. How _do_ you get it to levitate like that?" She lounged back against the bar languidly, her muscles stretched taut in a way that screamed quiet strength. She was channeling a serpent today, and she was coiled to spring at whatever dared challenge her. Again, he had to actively stop himself from staring. "I don't think you have it in you." Now that was just insulting. Charles Xavier did not take insults lightly.

"Oh, and I suppose you think you could do it?" He was just asking for trouble now. He knew her animal brain would hear the challenge in his words and have no choice but to accept. Although, that may not actually be a good thing.

"Come on now, Charles, you know you shouldn't be baiting her like that," Raven said. As usual, she was right.

"I know I can. First to the finish then?" Ellie either didn't hear or didn't care. Within moments she had an identical glass in her hand and the other hand perched imperiously on her hip. Defiance and confidence radiated from her psyche and her body language, but he knew that there was much more to her than that. It was a mask used to hide her true personality that was actually quite gentle and insecure. That lecture had really taken a toll on her and her self-esteem had gone down quite a lot, poor girl. From her first day of life she'd had to stand tall and firm as a rock, weathering whatever storm came her way and never letting her guard down for a moment lest she crumble into a million pieces. He'd only seen through that shell a few times and it had been an experience he wouldn't soon forget.

"You're on." And so the race began.

The two of them stood in the middle of a cheering crowd, each perched on a chair as they flipped their absurdly long tube-like glasses up and started to drink out of the too-wide mouth. The cold glass bit into the soft flesh of the corners of their mouths and the amber liquid felt odd as it wetted the skin of their upper lips, trying to escape. Ellie's eyes stayed firmly locked on Charles the entire time, her drink disappearing smoothly into her throat without so much as one spilt drop. Charles did ok for a while and it looked as if he might actually win, but then he started having difficulty keeping the drink from getting past him, not to mention Ellie's unblinking stare that bored into him and made him feel quite self-conscious. The many jumbled thoughts of the many drunken adolescents also meddled with his focus. They were just so loud! And everywhere and inside his mind, pressing in and…

The last drop of ale vanished down Ellie's impressive gullet seconds before Charles's did. Damn, he thought he had her for once. Ah well, he would concede gracefully like the man he was.

An enormous cheer went up through the throng of on-lookers. Ellie herself led the charge, raising her hands into the air whooping it up like some sort of Comanche warrior and brandishing her glass like a tomahawk. Charles couldn't help but laugh at the sight (that probably had more to do with the pleasant buzz he was getting than anything else). Raven stood beside them, cheering and clapping them both on the back as she helped them down from their pedestals.

"Well," Charles declared when the din finally lowered to a somewhat more bearable decibel. "I need another drink, and you need another cola." He patted his sister gently and made his way to the bar where a pretty blonde woman was eyeing him. Hmmm….lovely.

Ellie and Raven sat at a recently vacated table to wait for him to get back. He needed space when he got rejected anyway.

_Who says that's all I'm after? _Ellie jumped when he asked.

_I do. I know you, Charles. Don't think we don't see you making a beeline for the pretty woman. Just hurry up with our drinks please. _He never even made it that far.

Mere moments before he made contact with the blonde he was intercepted by a woman who smelled oddly familiar. She had auburn hair and a serious face. Wait a moment, old leather and secrets. It was that woman from Charles's presentation. The look she was wearing contained far too much purpose for this to be a chance meeting. She'd been waiting to get him alone. But why? She scented no malice from the woman, just fear. Hmmm…

"Who is that?" Raven asked.

"Don't know yet. I'll try to take a listen," Ellie responded, subtly shifting her weight so that her right ear was pointed in Charles's direction and tucking her hair behind it so it wouldn't obstruct the sound. Perfect. She could hear every word they were saying. "This one's 'mutation' is her auburn hair. Yep, there goes 'groovy' again and…wait-"

"Wait what?" Raven said, shaking her arm urgently. "What are they saying?"

"Ok, ok, calm down," Ellie swatted her hand away and closed her eyes. This was delicate work and she needed to concentrate. Their low voices were difficult enough to make out without the rest of the crazy loud kids in here and Raven shattering her focus. "I'll just relay the conversation…

"That routine may work on the co-eds, but I'm here on business," she said, cupping her hand behind her ear and repeating the woman's words. A dark sense of foreboding began to grow in the pit of her stomach. The woman's voice was deadly serious. "The kind of mutations you talked about, I need to know if they may have already happened."

Ellie broke away for a moment, looking at Raven fearfully with an exclamation of, "Shit." Just as quick, she leaned forward and resumed the position, watching Charles now. His eyes had widened and he had two fingers to his temple, his expression growing steadily more and more astounded as the woman started to look a bit disgusted.

"I'll just come back when you're sober," Ellie repeated, slipping easily back into her almost-trance.

Her voice deepened in an approximation of Charles's accented voice. "I have a feeling you already know the answer to your question. This is very important to me, and if I can help, I will do my utmost."

"Thank you."

_Charles, _Ellie thought, an unspoken question saturating her mind voice.

_Tell you later, _he brushed her off, too focused on the gravity of whatever he'd just seen to focus on anything else.

"What the hell is going on?" Raven's eyes were wide with apprehension, one that Ellie shared. Whatever he'd seen had shaken him and it took quite a lot to shake Charles Xavier. This wasn't good.

"I don't know, come on," she said, rising from the table and motioning for Raven to do the same. Charles and the woman were making their way over to them now, both with the same looks if apprehensive contemplation on their faces.

_It isn't good, that much I can tell you. _His eyes flashed up to meet Ellie's for a brief moment, a dark crease beginning to form between his brows. Whether it was in concentration or fear she didn't know.

"Raven, Ellie, this is Moira MacTaggert, an operative for the CIA," he introduced the stern-looking woman with a vague and distracted gesture in her direction. He was having a difficult time picking out the individual thoughts running around his head, some of which weren't his. There were simply too many to sort and analyze here in this place that was so full of everyone else's babbling minds. "Ms. MacTaggert, this is Raven, my sister and Ellie, a colleague and dear friend." He was also trying to pick out more details from her active mind, but he'd already seen everything she had and just because he had the ability to read top-secret files from her mind didn't mean he would. It was still illegal and he would _not _be using his abilities to take advantage. "Ladies, we have much to discuss and here is not a safe place for it. We have to get home as quickly as possible."

"Do you mean-" Raven started, but he already knew what she was going to ask.

"No, we have to go home to Westchester. We'll get the things we truly need and have the rest shipped there later."

"You know, I never really realized just how rich you are until you said that." _Charles, what's wrong? _Her voice-both physical and mental-were tipped with sulfur fear that she was trying desperately to hide. She sensed that something was very wrong. She really was more observant that he gave her credit for, a direct result of her animal mind.

_Not here, not now. _He tried to be soothing, tried to press calm into her mind with is words. This was not the place. Swift, he needed to be swift. The United States government had to be warned, they needed to get their things and they needed to get back as soon as possible. "Come on, and be quick," he said, ushering the women out ahead of him and down the street to the house.

What had this woman been doing to have seen the things she'd seen? A woman made entirely of diamond and a devilish looking man who simply appeared in the middle of the room in a plume of fire and brimstone. Mutants, other mutants who weren't exactly using the abilities for the greater good. If they were, they sure had a funny way of showing it. That man they took, Moira had seen him before. She recognized him and from what Charles gathered, he was quite important. Colonel…Colonel something or other. Her thoughts were too erratic for him to isolate his name. Any other day he might have been able to if given the time, but his own mind was such a whirlwind right now that he couldn't even process his own thoughts. Who the hell were these people and what exactly were they planning for the colonel? The whole affair gave him a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. He got the sense that this went far beyond a simple question about mutations.

No one said anything as they arrived at the house and gathered a few essentials. Charles put in a call to have the rest of their things delivered back to Westchester and they were off again, this time for the airport. An oppressive silence fell as soon as the last car door was shut, none of the four speaking a word. Ellie kept throwing glances at Moira containing too many emotions to discern. Raven stared ahead with an expression of thoughtful fear. By the time they arrived at the airport, the silence was so thick that it was hard to breathe. Everyone's minds were running frantically in circles, wondering, worrying and figuring. It was beginning to give Charles a bit of a headache. Ellie was nearly chomping at the bit to hammer him for details, but she had enough sense and respect for him to hold her tongue and her thoughts in check. He glanced over at her where she was staring steadfastly out the window with a stubborn crease in her brow. Her chin was resting on the heel of her hand with her fingertips touching her lips lightly. The light from the dying sun sparkled off of the many facets in her emerald eyes and set her hair on fire. The scar on the side of her face was the only sign that a human inhabited that stony body. It was the only signal that this creature was actually mortal, but it did not lessen the aura of strength that she exuded.

They boarded the plane at exactly six o'clock that evening, but it was so full already that they had to separate. Charles and Moira took two open seats near the front of the plane while Raven and Ellie were forced to sit together on the last row. Their meager possessions were small enough to be carry-ons and they stowed easily in the compartments above their seats. They were in the air safely before either of the two women decided to speak.

"What on Earth is going on, Ellie?" Raven asked, her eyes wide with fear.

Ellie sighed. "I don't know, Raven. Charles won't tell me. I take it he didn't tell you either," she said, pointing up to where he was deep in conversation with Moira. "Look at them up there. He was really thinking hard about whatever it is. The things he saw in her mind are really worrying him and that's cause enough for us to worry too." She shook her head in confusion. "He'll tell us as soon as it's safe."

"Do you think it's really something to worry about? I mean, maybe it's nothing," she whispered, eyes darting back and forth and running her fingers through her hair nervously. Fear rolled off her in sour waves and Ellie really wished she'd quit. She was grabbing at straws now, trying to convince herself that nothing was really wrong. Poor girl. She was young and Charles had protected her from everything he could think of. She'd become an optimist and that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"Raven, don't kid yourself," Ellie said, laying a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "Charles is worried, so we should be too. Be brave kiddo."

"Brave? How can I be brave when I'm scared shitless about something I don't even know about yet?"

"I didn't say fearless, Raven," Ellie said, leaning forward to look her directly in the eye. "Bravery isn't the absence of fear, but the acknowledgement that fear is there and doing what's right despite it. And what's right right now is to remain calm and be prepared for whatever comes." Raven nodded once and a steel glint lit up her face. She would be ok.

Satisfied, Ellie leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, allowing sleep to claim her.

OxOxO

**Wow! That story is exactly 4,000 words! Anyhow, I'm out of town for a while so my updates may become slightly erratic and delayed. Sorry about that but it has to be done and don't fear, I will update as often as I can!**

**Thanks to my reviewers and everyone who put this story on alert or favorited it! As always, I implore you to give me your thoughts! **

**Next time, the story really begins to pick up!**


	4. House of Contemptuous Bastards

**Please pardon any differences in the canon bits. It's been a while since I've watched the movie and I'm stuck trying to recall all of the dialogue. Please excuse my lack of photographic memory. The basic idea of the scenes should be the same. **

"Wake up," a voice said, calm and insistent. Ssshhhh….she was dreaming and still very, very tired. "Come on, Ellie! Wake up!" the voice said again, this time louder and a little less calm. Ellie swatted at it vaguely. Leave me alone! "Charles, she's not getting up." Who's Charles? Oh, right.

"Alright, I'll get her." A new voice joined the first. Footsteps grew louder until they stopped right next to her.

Charles leaned down and put his hands on his knees until he was nearly nose to nose with Ellie, still sound asleep. He stared at her intently and suddenly, without any warning thought, _WAKE! _as loud as he possibly could.

Equally as sudden, the girl bolted upright so quickly that he didn't have time to get out of the way before she smacked his face with her face and smashed their noses together painfully.

"Oh my God Charles! What the hell are you doing?" she shouted, clapping a hand over her face to try (in vain) to stem the pain.

"Trying to wake you up! You didn't have to assault me!" he yelled back, doing exactly the same thing having landed flat on his butt from the shock.

"Why were you so damn close?" He didn't answer that.

"The plane's landed. Time to get off," he grumbled instead and picked himself up off the floor, dusting his spotless trousers.

She grumbled back and stood up (a little dizzily) to retrieve her bag from the overhead compartment. She shot Raven a dark look for laughing at her pain. "Just shut up and come on," she snapped. Raven had to clap a hand over her mouth to stifle the barrage of giggles that threatened to escape.

That idiotic, hot tempered girl! How dare she insinuate that that whole affair had been _his _fault! She was the one who had insisted on staying asleep when they tried to wake her! She was the one who had leapt up and head-butted him! He had more important things to deal with than the nasty headache beginning to spread. He pinched the bridge of his nose and helped Moira from her seat. Damn! Sometimes he really hated living with the beast. She was his friend and he loved her as such, but she really made life difficult to be perfectly honest. Dull anger and irritation simmered in his chest as he quickly led them through the throng of people at the New York airport. They had already reached the front door by the time it occurred to him. Would they be able to go back to Westchester before going to the CIA?

"Do we have time to get home first?" he asked Moira. He had her answer before she spoke.

"No, we have to get to Langley, now."

He only nodded once. He hadn't slept a wink on the plane, unlike _some people_, and fatigue tugged at the corners of his mind like an old and insistent friend. It promised peace, it promised rest and it sang to him so sweetly that he nearly accepted right then and there. The only thing that stopped him was the constant nervous vibrations coming to him from the three women. He had a duty to them and to his country, and he would be damned before he failed either.

So they now had to get back on a plane. A quick scan of the nearest attendant's mind told him that the next flight to D.C. left in about two hours. Wait a moment, why hadn't they just flown straight to D.C. in the first place? He must have been more exhausted than he thought.

"Charles, you ok?" Ellie asked him, her concern pressing in on him as she approached. He saw himself through her eyes and was fairly shocked by it. The man she was looking at was disheveled with deep, dark circles beneath his eyes. He looked as if he were about to keel over without warning. Yes, he would definitely be trying to sleep on the plane. It would be difficult with the myriad of minds babbling at him from all sides, but he had to try. God, he looked terrible!

He wiped a tired hand over his face and forced a smile. He couldn't afford to appear tired now. "Yes, my dear. Thank you for your concern. I should have spoken to Moira before we left Oxford. Now we'll have to fly to Langley in addition to the flight from England."

"Well, I think we were all a bit preoccupied when we left," she said, her eyes darkening. Questions burned in her mind like fiery snakes, but she didn't ask. "It's not just your fault. On the plus side, we all get another few hours to rest up before we speak to the CIA." She tugged her blazer tighter around her shoulders and shuddered, ice fogging up her thoughts for a moment. Ah, that's right. Serpents are cold blooded and the air was a bit chilly today.

"Would you like another jacket?" he asked, beginning to shrug out of his own.

She shook her head a smiled sweetly at him. Her hair looked lovely when it rippled like that in the rising sun. "I'll be just fine. You need it more than I do." With that, she turned and went back inside to wait.

Moira and Raven were standing just inside the door, whispering anxiously with their heads close together. The scent of the ever-present fear that had shadowed them from England was beginning to cancel itself out in her scent glands. Thank God for that, because she'd been _this close_ to losing what little she'd been able to eat. Fear had a sour, rank smell that really started to grate on one's stamina after a while. If you managed to withstand it long enough, you got used to it.

"You guys alright in here?" she asked them. They jerked apart and clutched their chests as if she'd startled them. Well, that was exactly what happened.

"Yeah," Raven said, giving her a bit of a dark look. "You're so quiet. You really should make some noise when you sneak up on people like that."

"Well, isn't that the purpose of sneaking?" Ellie cocked an eyebrow and offered a sly smile. "Besides, I wasn't sneaking. I only sneak when I'm going to eat small animals." She immediately wished she could shove the words back in her mouth and swallow them.

Moira choked a little bit on the air she was breathing. "What?" she gasped in surprise.

"Shit." Ellie mentally cursed herself. That little slip was going to be hard to cover up. "Joking, dear Moira. I'm a terrible jokester, and Raven and Charles are very much averse to my appreciation for a good rabbit gumbo or stew and I do enjoy teasing them about it." Much to Ellie's relief, the look of incredible shock disappeared from Moira's face and she just nodded like she understood, but the blank look in her eyes said that she didn't. Then again, she'd looked like that since they saw her yesterday. Maybe she was just naturally blank-looking.

They were starting to look a little silly where they were, three women just standing around and whispering near the front door. People were beginning to stare. Ellie heard them murmuring among themselves as they passed and decided that it was time to move. She gently took hold of the other two women's arms and guided them deeper into the airport where there were some rather uncomfortable seats to sit in. Unfortunately, it was all they had so Ellie had to just grin and bear it. She was _not _going to grin, but she supposed she did have to bear it. She was far too hungry to grin anyway. She thought about going out for a little hunt, but that would probably freak Moira out for real. As if to accentuate her thoughts, her stomach let out a ferocious grumble that had both Moira and Raven leaning over to look at her.

"What?" she said with a shrug of the shoulders. "I'm starving."

"They've got vending machines and food places," Raven said sweetly. She was always just so…sweet. It made Ellie smile.

"Thank you hon, but I don't have any money." Anthropology didn't pay quite as well as genetics and ancient trust funds from parents long gone.

"Just ask Charles, I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Raven said with that perfectly innocent blond haired and blue eyed look of hers. She didn't see anything wrong with mooching off of her brother, but Ellie had never been one to accept charity from others. The only thing she did accept was a place to live, but she was constantly repaying Charles with her spectacular housekeeping skills.

Ellie shot her a withering glance. "No, Raven. I'm not asking Charles for his money."

"I know, but it never hurts to ask." She grinned that blindingly white little grin and Ellie had to return it.

"Did anyone ever tell you how wonderful you are?"

"Yeah, but I'm not averse to hearing it again." The grin expanded and she leaned even further into Ellie's lap.

"You are wonderful, Raven." Ellie laughed, scratching the girl's abnormally blonde and perfect head affectionately. She wished she had the ability to be lovely, to be rid of her scars. They'd plagued her since she was thirteen years old. They'd mocked her every time she looked in the mirror. _Weak_, they screamed. _Imperfect! Ugly! _She would never be free of them, and they would forever be the first thing that anyone noticed when they saw her. Moira was looking at it now, she could see the woman out of the corner of her eye. Swiftly, she combed her hair down and positioned it to cover her most visible deformity. Moira looked away.

"I'm going to sleep and I suggest the two of you do the same," she said, curling up on the hard tile floor and doing her best to fall asleep.

Charles didn't go back inside until it was time to board. The steadily increasing number of chattering minds was only adding to the tremendous headache he'd gotten after being head-butted. He found it a little easier to block them when he was outside on his own. He also got the opportunity to go over the events he'd witnessed from Moira's mind a few more times. He didn't figure out anything new like who they were, what they wanted with the Colonel or even who he was, but it gave him something to do and therefore put his mind at ease. Well, as at ease as it could be.

He sat down heavily on the curb as far away from the door as possible and just replayed the scene over and over again in his mind until he was so familiar with it that it was beginning to irritate him. He had every detail memorized to the point of instant recall and still, he hadn't come to a single damn conclusion. He'd never been so completely baffled by anything before in his rather short life. He was a geneticist for crying out loud! He was an expert at putting random pieces together and getting the whole picture out of next to nothing. The problem was, he only had one piece and didn't have a clue as to what the piece might mean. What exactly did Moira want from him? He was fairly certain now that this went far beyond wanting to know about mutations. They had the colonel, (Colonel Hendri, he had finally found out) and she needed to know who they were and why. Beyond that, whatever case she'd been working on when she discovered them still needed to be completed, and he got the feeling that he, Raven and Ellie had just been recruited to help out.

"Charles." A hesitant voice jolted him out of his reverie. It was Ellie, standing a few feet away and looking at him with a guarded expression.

"Yes? Is something the matter?" No one would ever have guessed at the ferocious storm raging behind those Swarovski eyes, as calm and blue as a cottage pond in the summertime.

"You just looked like you were really thinking hard about something," she said softly, casting her eyes down. She was oddly subdued all of a sudden. "It's time to board." She turned to leave but he caught her arm and turned her back around to face him.

"What is it, Ellie? I know something's wrong." He already knew, of course. He only asked out of courtesy. She was guilty for derailing his train of thought and her multitude of questions was beginning to cause some stress. Worry nagged at her like a housewife and dimmed her blazing personality a bit.

"Nothing," she said, forcing a smile and shrugging out of his grasp. He watched her disappear through the door and then the throng of people waiting for a plane for just a moment before following slowly after.

OxOxO

The flight was uneventful to the extreme, and all four of them (managing to get four seats together that time) were asleep within fifteen minutes. By the time the flight attendant woke them with her landing announcements and instructions, Moira was the only one whose entire body had actually remained in its seat. Ellie was lying with her head in Raven's lap who in turn had propped her feet up in Charles's lap who had dropped his head onto Raven's shoulder and was snoring rather loudly. They yawned and stretched and disentangled themselves and gathered their bags in a haze of fatigue and jet lag that was just beginning to catch up with them. No one said a word as they hailed a cab and piled into the back seat. Moira was the only one who spoke, and even that was only to give directions to the driver.

Ellie didn't take her eyes off of the city until the car pulled into the parking lot of a very official looking building. The silence changed as they entered, filing in behind Moira. It pressed in on them, closing off their throats and making it impossible for words to escape. The entire building rang with silence and their hearts began to beat faster as they were stopped just inside the door. They were all frisked (one of the men jumped away from Ellie when she let out a low and very inhuman growl) and appropriately scanned and given tags that read, 'VISITOR'. Once they'd been checked in and checked out by about four different people each, a nameless guard led them off on an adventure through the maze of hallways and elevators that made up the CIA headquarters and Langley, Virginia. The only sounds to be heard were the steady clicking of footsteps and soft breathing, all but inaudible to everyone without an animal's senses. Even their minds were hushed, thinking very little at all. Charles quite liked it for a change.

Just when they were beginning to think that the guard didn't really know where he was going at all, he stopped in front of a large wooden door and ushered them inside. Several stern looking men with salt-and-pepper hair were sitting around a rather small conference table waiting for them and looking bored out of their minds when the four entered the room, taking available seats without a word. The room was small, as conference rooms go, but the chairs were made with genuine leather and weren't uncomfortable to sit on (Ellie discreetly took a gulp of cattle scented air and blanched. She was fairly certain she'd known this bull). The table, polished to a high sheen, held several pitchers and glasses for water (left untouched) and several notebooks and scattered paperwork. It smelled heavily of confidential information and the arrogance of soft men given a false sense of authority by a piece of paper and a title. Ellie would love to see one of them try to order an irascible rhinoceros around using that bit of paper and useless word.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," Moira said politely to the men looking at her from under raised eyebrows. "This is Professor Charles Xavier from Oxford. He's an expert on genetic mutation who just recently finished his thesis on the potential for genetic mutation in human beings today. Colonel Hendri has been abducted by members of the Hellfire Club who, as I witnessed myself, show signs of this mutation. Professor Xavier is here to prove this theory so that we can better understand these people and find Colonel Hendri." She nodded once and sat back down, stoic and poised as the X man himself. Judging by the faint flush in her cheeks, she was embarrassed by the looks of complete and utter boredom on the men's faces. Clearly she'd been hoping for a serious reaction she did not get.

At a grudging word from the man at the head of the table, Charles began to give the same presentation as he had in Oxford, all the while scanning the minds of the men in the room for their reaction. The information he was giving should have startled them, shocked them and shaken them right to the very core, but it didn't. Moira told them of the diamond woman, and the red man who could appear in a puff of flame and black smoke. Charles told them of how radiation had sped up evolution and genetic mutation that was all too possible, and apparently all too real. The men should have been afraid for their lives or wondering how to get the colonel back or at the very least, thinking about looking into the incident, but they weren't. Their thoughts were screaming with laughter or dripping with boredom or wondering what was for lunch later on.

In their minds, Charles Xavier (he was _not _a professor yet, thank you very much!) was as mad as a hatter, and everything he was saying was absolute gibberish. Damn government officials who thought they knew everything. It wouldn't be until they had a real problem on their hands that they would realize that Charles was _not _mad and they needed his help. He wouldn't be offering twice, but they wouldn't think about that now, would they?

As he began wrapping it up, the men glanced at each other with ridiculous smiles in their eyes, trying to stifle disrespectful sniggers (that part was what really got him. Disrespect). No one had absorbed any of the information he'd given. Well, he'd tried to warn them. If they weren't going to heed him, it wasn't his fault.

"The advent of the nuclear age may have accelerated the mutation process," he said, glancing over at the girls for support. Ellie winked at him and smiled warmly, and Raven was watching the men at the other end of the table but she was listening. At least someone besides Moira cared about what he was saying. "Individuals with extraordinary abilities may already be among us. Thank you very much." His presentation concluded, and he took his own seat, bracing himself for their reaction. It was about as bad as he was expecting, which was pretty bad.

"MacTaggert," the man opposite Charles addressed her as if she were an errant child. "You really think that some crackpot scientist is going to make me believe in sparkly dames and vanishing men? You just bought yourself a one-way ticket back to the typing pool. This meeting is over." He closed his notebook and rolled his eyes as Moira stood without a word. Her misery washed over him like stagnant water. Thanks to Charles, she'd just been horribly demoted from a job she'd worked her ass off for years for. Not on his watch.

"Please, sit down, Agent MacTaggert," he said calmly, effectively hiding his growing irritation and low anger. She looked up at him with gratitude and slowly returned to her seat. Ellie patted her arm reassuringly. This was getting good. "I didn't really expect you to believe me, given that all you could think about during my presentation is what sort of pie they're serving in the commissary." He paused, reaching out to the cooks several stories below them. "It's apple pecan." An electric shock jolted through Moira's mind as she put the pieces together, a shock that was not visible on her well-trained face. "I haven't been entirely honest with you, love, I'm sorry. You see, one of the many spectacular things my _mutation," _he drew the word out nice and slow to make sure these simpletons understood, "allows me to do is that I can read your mind." He waited. Still nothing but disdain and contempt.

"I've seen this before in a magic show," one of the larger men sneered. "Are you gonna ask us to think of a number between one and ten now?"

Charles chuckled a bit at the man's utter lack of regard for the situation. For men who hinged so much on the concept of respect, they had no idea what respect truly was. He almost felt sorry for them, cushioned here, away from the true horrors of the world by expensive doors and fine furnishings and paperwork. Stryker, here (the man who had just spoken) had been in the military, but was about as prejudiced and hateful as they come. "No, Agent Stryker, although I could ask you about your son William, who you were thinking about, which is very nice, but I think I'd rather ask you about the Jupiter missiles America are currently placing in Turkey," he answered quietly. Alright, so he swore that he would never use his ability to glean top secret information (although technically, he did only swear not to steal from Moira…), but these were dire straits they were heading into and desperate times called for desperate measures.

Electric shocks assaulted him from all directions as the men in the room realized that he wasn't supposed to know anything about that. Moira looked over at the man at the head of the table nervously when he started to rise, yelling "He's a goddamned spy! You brought a goddamned spy!" He reached for the phone, about to call in the cavalry and everyone started yelling at once.

"I would never…!" Moira was drowned out by the several other, louder voices that insisted that she was guilty. Charles got double the volume, in his ears and his mind, and he decided to just stay put until they sorted it all out. Moira was yelling at Stryker, who was yelling at a man in glasses across the room, who was yelling at the man at the head of the table who was punching numbers into his phone with shaking fingers. Charles felt the girls' decisions before they stood and tried to stop them, but it was too late.

At the same time, Ellie leapt up onto the table and tossed her jacket to the side, melting into a large, silvery grey wolf with emerald eyes, and Raven stood, her scales flipping over and turning her into Stryker.

All voices died in their owners' throats.

Stryker looked at himself standing at the other end of the table, and the others glanced back and forth fearfully between the beast that was staring them down and the man that had been a woman a moment ago. Ellie lifted her head and stood tall, wagging her tail as the tension in the room turned to excitement in her wolf brain. Her ears pricked up and she looked over her shoulder at Charles, her tongue lolling out of her mouth like a happy puppy.

_Hey, _her indignant mind voice said. _I am not a puppy, and I'm not really happy either. The wolf's just excited by all the craziness. _

_I know, my dear, _he laughed back. Ellie panted and rolled over onto her back, presenting her belly in a peace offering to the men who were pouring noxious fear-scent into the air.

_Tell them I'm not going to hurt them. _

_They wouldn't believe me if I did. _Charles shook his head slightly and turned back to Stryker. Raven shifted into her natural blue self and Ellie leapt down off of the table to stand beside her.

"How's that for a magic trick?" Charles asked.

"The best I've ever seen." A low and thoughtful voice sounded from corner of the room. Another man was there that even Charles hadn't noticed before. His thoughts had been so quiet and introverted and he hadn't said a word until now. Now that he was focused in on them, the man's thoughts were a buzz of activity. He had an idea, but Charles didn't stay long enough to find out.

"I want them out of here," the man next to Stryker growled, pointing an accusing finger at Charles. "And locked down until I can figure out what to do." Stryker himself just looked rather stricken.

Charles and Raven shared a nervous glance. They would fight if they had to, but that was a scenario they would avoid if at all possible. Ellie bumped her head against Raven's thigh. Raven scratched her head and the physical connection allowed Ellie's mind voice to speak to her.

_Be ready, kiddo. Stay behind me if I go grizzly. _

_Ok, _Raven replied. She kept her hand firmly on the wolf's head to keep communication open.

The man in the corner spoke up again. "My facility's off-site. I'll take them."

**Dun dun dun! Cliffie! But, anyone who's seen the movie knows what goes on from here. How did you like my delivery of this scene? Ellie is a little bit more subdued in this canon scene cuz she knows when to hold her tongue and when some bitches need slappin! Don't worry though, she won't hold back like that much more. Coming up, Ellie's first meeting with one Erik Lehnsherr. **

**Feedback is much needed!**


	5. Missions and New Additions

**The one thing that kinda bugged me that the movie got wrong is 'Russia's' name. Russia did not exist in the 60's. Instead, much of northern Asia and eastern Europe were comprised of a large group of nations known as the U.S.S.R. or the Soviet Union. When this group later disbanded, the largest of nations would be known as Russia. So, in order to be historically correct, I'm calling it the U.S.S.R. or the Soviet Union. **

**Also, the 'man in black' didn't have a name in the movie. He was listed in the credits as 'man in black' I think. If I'm wrong, please correct me. **

**P.S., if I can make it to twenty five reviews, the twenty fifth reviewer will get a prize ;) **

Sebastian Shaw. That was the name of the man who ran the Hellfire Club. That was the name of the man who had abducted the colonel who had, in turn, convinced the United States to place very powerful nuclear missiles in Turkey. Once the U.S.S.R. found out about this, it would mean further deterioration of their already precarious relationship. It may even mean war.

Charles would bet his mother's mansion that Shaw was behind it, working with the Soviets. It was Shaw who had coerced the colonel into making such an earth-shattering decision. The question was: what was the endgame? What exactly was Shaw trying to accomplish other than utter annihilation of the human race and the planet it lived on?

Moira's mind was racing with the same thoughts and fears in a mahogany spiral drifting on the periphery of his mind vision. He had sworn that he wouldn't look into her thoughts, but the situation was rapidly expanding into something much more than the simple matter of genetic mutation and he needed all the information he could get. He had a sneaking suspicion that this had been Moira's intent all along. It just didn't seem plausible that she'd flown to Oxford to contact Charles and then flown back to Langley simply to convince her superiors of the existence of mutants. He was beginning to think that they truly had been recruited. They were now about to be shipped off to a secret research facility that's sole purpose was the study of paranormal ability usage for national defense (he had no qualms about reading the mind of the man in black who planned on taking them there). That could only mean one thing. They were about to become powerful pawns in a very serious chess game.

Once the other CIA members had all filed out of the room, Charles let out a relieved sigh. Their anxiousness was beginning to give him a pounding headache that no amount of medicine would cure. Ellie snarled softly at each one as they passed, cursing them in her mind and in her body language. Thank God none of them spoke wolf.

_Ellie, that really isn't very appropriate, _he scolded, sounding more like her grandfather than her friend.

She turned her sparkling eyes on him and cocked her head to the side, trying to change back so that she could snap at him properly. Nothing happened. Her backside made a soft thump as she sat down hard on her haunches, and the emerald flare that was her mind blazed with effort and frustration. She began cursing again, this time however, she was fussing about her sporadic abilities. The beast was obviously not cooperating today.

_Are you stuck again? _he asked, already knowing the answer.

_Wipe that smug little grin off your face before I claw it off, _she snapped back, baring her teeth at him.

_There's no need to get angry with me, I didn't stick you there, _he said, crouching down to look her in the eye. _You're the one who decided to show off. _He reached forward to scratch her behind the ears. The quickest way to getting on her good side was a little scratch in certain places. Having lived with her for thirteen years, he'd pretty much figured out where all of those places were in each of her favorite forms.

_That is nice, _she murmured, closing her eyes and leaning into his hand as her frustration dissipated. He couldn't help but smile. For all her strength and nasty temper, she really was just a very large marshmallow, and he found her more and more enthralling all the time.

"Is she stuck?" Raven asked, crouching down next to him.

"Yes, I'm afraid she is." He didn't look up from the wolf. "That was some stunt you two pulled. You're lucky they didn't have you arrested." He tried to keep the accusation out of his tone and his face. Apparently he didn't succeed.

"Don't talk to me like that," she said, leaping back to her feet and glaring down at him. "You're the one who decided to let it slip that you can find out classified information whenever the hell you feel like it." Her blue eyes flashed angrily and she perched her hands on her hips.

"I would never do so, 'whenever the hell I feel like it' and you know it."

"Yes, Charles, I do, but they don't. If anyone was going to be arrested, it was you."

Fortunately, the beast chose that moment to behave, and Ellie popped back into human form so quickly that the air sizzled a little.

"Dammit!" she shouted when she landed face first on the floor, her arm jerking spasmodically. "My muscles are going to be spazzing out for hours now!" She grunted in pain as her entire body convulsed.

"Are you alright?" Charles asked while Raven helped her up off the floor. She made sure to keep a hand on Ellie's arm because those muscle spasms would send her right back down again if they weren't careful, especially with her already shoddy balance.

"Yes, I'm alright," she growled through gritted teeth. She was trying her best not to be snappish, which he knew was quite difficult for her. "I hate it when it does that. Why can't I control it better?" She sat down heavily in one of the leather chairs and cradled her auburn head in her hands as another convulsion rocked her body. Her hair fell in a curtain that hid her anguished expression from view. He put a hand on her quivering shoulder and turned to face the door just before the man in black entered the room.

"We should probably get going now." Charles nodded and helped Ellie from her chair to make their way out the door while reaching out for Moira and finding her easily. She was with that man, Levine, near the water fountain. It was about time the two of them had a little chat.

"I can't believe this," she was saying, walking briskly down the hallway. "You'd think the director of the CIA'd have a little more composure. We should be going after Shaw right now. Instead he's up there, worrying about the wrong mutants." Indeed he was.

Levine stopped to take a drink, and Charles slipped into his mind and the minds of the two men shadowing them all too easily and halted them in their tracks.

"What are we going to do Levine?" Moira asked. "Levine? Levine, what's wrong with you?" She leaned down to peer at him, water running into his nose.

_Absolutely nothing, _Charles spoke directly into her mind. _I've only frozen him for a moment because I'd like to talk to you. It's good, isn't it? _He couldn't resist a little bit of gloating. He'd never known he could do that. Moira looked around worriedly, trying to find the source of Charles's voice. Sometimes humans really were too skittish for their own good. _I'm as interested in this Sebastian Shaw as you are, and if you still want my help, meet me on the third floor of the parking garage. _He left her nervous little mind quickly. It was beginning to grate on his nerves how incredibly fearful she was. The girl was still looking around with her brows knitted together like some sort of idiot. Really now, she was an agent in the CIA. Shouldn't she be a bit tougher than that? Ah well, it really was no place for a woman.

Ellie let out a low whimper as she was hit with another spasm. Of course, today would be the day for the beast to act up. She really should be better at controlling her by now, but her instincts still managed to get the better of her more often than not. She leaned heavily on Raven's arm as they walked (well, Raven walked, she limped) as quickly as they could down to the man's car.

The rather large man perplexed her, his scent giving off many different signals she'd never come across before. He smelled of many things, but strangely, fear was not one of them. In fact, he smelled of other mutants. One in particular actually. He apparently spent a lot of time around this one. She wondered if he knew he had a mutant already working for him. Possibly, possibly not. They were going to find out soon enough. The man huffed and puffed as he tried to keep up with the two young whipper-snappers. Even Ellie with her mangled hip slowing her down easily surpassed him in speed. He needed to get out from behind his desk more often, he was getting soft.

Charles walked along with his fingers pressed to his temple and his brows scrunched together in concentration. He was communicating with someone, probably Moira. That woman really rubbed Ellie the wrong way. She was fearful and timid as a little mouse when it came to mutants, and as a cat, Ellie didn't enjoy mice too much. Well, she did, but it wasn't the mouse itself so much but how it tasted. Charles was spending most of his time talking to Moira, discussing plans with Moira. Ever since they'd picked her up, the entire charade had been focused around the mousy little detective. Ellie wanted to snarl, but that would attract unwanted attention to them. She needed someone to talk to, and she couldn't do it out loud.

"Raven," she poked the blond gently on the side.

"Yeah?"

"Would you carry me if I go housecat? It'll stop the spasms until I can relax a little more." That was a good excuse! Maybe there was something positive that came out of shifting too fast after all. Raven smile softly and nodded. She stuck her arms under Ellie's as she melted into a small, silver tabby cat. The cat purred from its nest in Raven's gentle arms.

_Ok, I really needed to let off a little steam. Does Moira get on your nerves too or is it just me? _

_I think it's just you, _her snarky mind voice giggled. _And I think I know why._

_Oh really? _Ellie remarked sarcastically. She highly doubted that Raven knew why Moira got on her nerves, when she herself did not. _Why?_

Her answer froze Ellie in her tracks.

_It's because you're jealous. _

_I-excuse me? _How was it possible for a mind voice to jump four octaves? She didn't know, but she really wished it hadn't. Jealous? Of Moira? Yeah, right. _I am not jealous of that tart. What exactly do I have to be jealous for? _

Again, Raven's simple answer robbed her of her ability to think.

_Charles. _

_I-I don't have any idea what you're talking about. _The silver, long haired cat turned her nose away and flexed her bad leg as if it pained her.

Raven laughed out loud, startling their escorts and Charles who gave the two women a strange look. Then, he went back to his silent conversation as if nothing had happened. That man could lose himself in his (and everyone else's) mind so quickly it was scary sometimes.

_Yeah, I'm sure you don't, but the fact remains that you're jealous of Moira because Charles is spending so much of his attention on her. _Raven really was more observant than was good for her, but was it true? Was that really the reason she had such an aversion to Moira? She hadn't really thought about it before, but she didn't know why Moira grated on her nerves. The woman was timid and meek, even when she was trying to be courageous, but that didn't seem like a reason to hate her. If Ellie was honest with herself, she would admit that she felt the most angry when she saw the two together, deep in secret conversations about God knows what. She despised the way he stuck up for her as if she were a part of their little family too. She hated having to share him, even though he'd never been hers in the first place.

She was jealous of Moira MacTaggert's closeness to Charles.

Admitting that fact to herself felt oddly liberating. At least she understood her ill feelings now. And admitting it to herself made her more comfortable admitting it to Raven.

_Ok, so what do I do about it? _

_Well, I'm not really sure you can do anything about it. _Raven smirked down at her, stroking her head affectionately. _That's love for you. _

_What a minute, wait a minute! _Ellie squirmed in Raven's arms, twisting around to look up at her, green eyes meeting blue. _Whoever said anything about love? _

_No one, but they didn't have to. You may not wear your heart out on your sleeve, but your eyes leave no secrets for anyone with the patience to look. _Raven's mind voice was gentle and wise beyond her years. She gazed down at the silver cat in her arms, and for just a moment, she wasn't a naïve teenager. For a moment, she was so much more.

_You are becoming a woman, little Raven. _A deep purr resonated from within her chest and she nuzzled Raven with her forehead, claiming her as family with her scent. _You have to promise me that you'll never let him know. _

_I promise, Ellie, but you can't just keep it in forever. _

_Watch me. I've hidden it this long haven't I? The last thing either of us needs right now is an awkward relationship that will ruin the friendship we already have going. Besides, unrequited love goes nowhere. Telling him would only hurt me. _ Ellie laid her head back down on Raven's arm, and Raven could have sworn that the cat sighed.

_You don't know that,_ Raven's mind voice was quiet. _He may be thinking the same way you are. _

_And purple dingoes will take over the universe, _Ellie snapped. _I know him, and he does _not _feel the same way I do. I think this conversation should end and you should forget it ever happened. _

_Fine. We're here, _she conceded with a huff and dumped Ellie unceremoniously onto the floor of the parking garage. Ellie let out an indignant hiss and slowly melted back into human form, rubbing her hip with a pained grimace on her face.

"Are you alright?" Charles asked, startling both girls. It was the first thing he'd said out loud since they left the conference room.

"Yep," Ellie barked, most decidedly _not _looking at him. "Just stellar." Snarky sarcasm dripped from every syllable.

What on Earth had tied her underwear in a knot? She wasn't generally _this _snappish. He would have asked her about it, but the man in black chose that moment to speak up. He'd been holding his tongue all the way down here, but curiosity had finally gotten the better of him.

"I've always known there were people like you out there," he spoke to Charles with wonder in his voice, his face and his mind. "I've been the laughing stock of this agency for years, but I knew it! You're going to love my facility-"

"That's going to have to wait," Charles interrupted, going over everything he'd just learned from Moira once again. If it was true, they needed to make another stop before going to this man's facility.

"Why?" he asked, still believing that he was in charge here. How adorable.

The car that would be transporting them pulled up then, with Moira in the driver's seat. "Agent MacTaggert has a lead on Shaw and if we don't move now, apparently we're going to lose him." The man's confusion washed over him, but Raven beat him to the explanation. Charles wondered why Ellie was staring at him so intently as he climbed into the seat next to Moira.

"Not only can he read minds, but he can communicate with them as well," the blond said, helping Ellie get into the car.

"Moira and I have just had a lovely conversation," Charles said, smiling down at her and then up at the man.

"Yes we did," she said, smiling back. It made Ellie want to slash something. More specifically, the something right in front of her, preferably without the seat between them.

Wonder took the man over once again. "That is incredible!" he exclaimed while Charles chuckled with mirth. "B-but I can't take you anywhere else without permission from upstairs." This man was most amusing to Charles with his delusions of authority. There was a quick and easy way to handle this.

"Would you like to see one more magic trick?" he asked.

"Sure." The large man's excitement coursed through him.

Charles pressed two fingers to his temple and said, "Get in the car."

"Good idea," the man replied pleasantly, sliding in after Raven. It was a tight fit with three of them back there, and Ellie looked out the window, scowling.

"Where are we going then, if we're not going where we're supposed to be going?" she grumbled.

"Miami."

"Excuse me?" She did look at him then, her emerald eyes wide with disbelief.

"You heard correctly," he said, far too chipper-sounding for her taste.

"Charles, we've been on two planes in the past few days, now you expect us to get on another one?"

"That is exactly what I expect, and we're not arguing about it," he turned back to look at her with a stern reproach in his eyes.

"Stop acting like my father," she snapped, knowing the insult was worse to her than it was to him. He hadn't known her father. "I'm not a little kid, but I will not be happy about getting on another damned plane."

"What's gotten you in such a foul mood?" Raven looked back and forth between the two nervously.

"You," Ellie snarled and promptly morphed into a mouse that scampered up into Raven's pocket.

Charles looked at his sister with shock and a question in his eyes. She only shrugged and patted her pocket gently.

With a confused shake of his head, Charles began to lay out their plan (which wasn't really much of one, to be perfectly honest).

"Shaw owns a boat called the Caspartina in Miami, Florida. When we get there, we're going to get the Coast Guard to arrest him and his lackeys. Hopefully, that will be the end of it."

If only he knew then what he knew a few months later.

OxOxO

The ride to the airport was uneventful, everyone but Ellie conversing among themselves about nothing. She didn't speak a word to anyone and they went right through customs without the airport staff ever knowing Raven had a mouse in her pocket. Unfortunately, there were no seats left available when they boarded, so Ellie had to remain a mouse for the duration of the flight. No one knew whether or not she was comfortable with this, because still, she said nothing. He sensed anger and irritation and something else from her. Possibly sorrow? Odd. He wanted to know what was wrong, but she was in no mood to be consoled.

Reluctantly, he settled back down and did his best to let her be. Small talk recommenced once the group was comfortably seated. All of them were preoccupied with the situation ahead, but they weren't going to speak about it with so many other ears around to hear. Raven kept a nervous hand on her pocket, the light peachy flavor of her mind tainted with apprehension. Shaw wouldn't give up on his plan willingly, and judging by the company he kept, he was a dangerous man. They had a fight on their hands and that was making them all a bit nervous. Ellie knew it too, and through the primal haze of mouse instincts he felt her excitement as a predator mentality began to take over. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore. He had to know what was bothering her so much (why he so desperately wanted to know this and make it go away remained a mystery for quite some time).

_I don't understand why you're still sulking, or what you're sulking about, _he projected into her mind.

_I'm not sulking, _she responded steadily. _I just really hate planes, and this is the third one I've been on in a week. _She wasn't telling him everything. He sensed information that she was choosing to hide from him, but he wasn't going to dig where he wasn't welcome.

_I know that isn't all that's upsetting you, but I won't pry. _

_Thank you, _she said, sending him a smile.

_You know you can tell me anything, don't you? _It was almost as if she didn't trust him, which cut him to the quick. He'd worked his tail off for thirteen years to gain that trust, and he hoped all of his efforts hadn't been in vain.

_Yes, Charles,_ she said softly. _I know that, but there are some things that are just better left unsaid. _

_Do you think you would ever be willing to tell me? _

_Maybe,_ she said, before severing the connection and promptly falling asleep. For some reason he wasn't ready to go quite yet, so he stuck around to watch her dreams for a moment. Every single one had something to do with him.

OxOxO

Night fell quickly on the Caspartina, allowing the Coast Guard ship to make its approach unseen. All was silent save for the noise Ellie made as she walked. Her boots made a hollow metallic sound as she paced back and forth, chomping at the bit to set the beast free. Her eyes glowed luminescent green when they reflected the smallest trace of light, reminding Charles of a wolf hunting in the dark of the forest. She lifted her nose to the air, scenting.

"There are four people on that boat," she said, peering into the darkness where Charles's human eyes failed. "Their scents are so strange though. They're definitely mutants."

"All of them?" Charles asked. Shaw himself had given no indication that he was a mutant as well, but it made sense.

"Yes. Wait-," she paused, narrowing her eyes in confusion. "Now there are only three."

"What?" Charles moved closer to her, staring in the direction she was staring but seeing nothing. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know, Charles. One smelled of steel and the ocean, one smelled way too heavily of perfume, one smelled of ozone and the other smelled like a nuclear reactor, that's got to be Shaw. The metal one just disappeared. Wait a sec, why aren't you scanning them?" she turned to him, but he already had his fingers to his face.

Ellie turned to the Coast Guard officer standing on the deck next to them. Heavy fear-scent rolled off of him and he flinched when her glowing eyes landed on him, but she didn't hesitate.

"Now is a prime opportunity," she said. "Move in on that boat."

The young man dashed away and the silence was shattered by the ship's horn, and light flooded her vision as the searchlights blazed to life. "This is the U.S. Coast Guard," a man said through the loud speaker. "Do not attempt to move your vessel. Stay where you are."

"Damn it!" she shouted, looking up to where the captain was with fury in her eyes. "I didn't say alert the whole of Miami to our presence! He doesn't have to move his vessel; he'll just kill you all for the hell of it! Idiots!" She slammed her fist down on the railing, and Charles put a steadying hand on her back.

"What's done is done," he said. "We need you on lookout."

"Fine, but I still think they're idiots."

He couldn't help but chuckle as she melted into the form of an osprey and took to the air, disappearing into the gloom. He turned his attention back to Shaw's mind (quite a nasty place, mind you) and looking through his eyes. The boat was fabulous and posh, with all sorts of luxuries that Shaw probably killed for. He had his eyes trained on a lovely blond woman in a _very _short dress standing next to him. Before Charles had time to react, she gazed out at the advancing speedboats and said, "They have a telepath."

Damn.

The woman narrowed her eyes and seconds later, a diamond hard barrier surrounded Shaw's mind and sent Charles reeling back into his own head. He probed the defenses, but there was no way on Earth he was getting back in. This was incredible! It was nothing like the steel wall that Ellie had been able to think up on impulse, but a well formed and solid block with no weak points for him to access. It was both fascinating and infuriating at the same time.

"I've lost Shaw," he said to Moira. "I've lost-I've lost Shaw, there's something blocking me. This has never happened before. I think there's someone like me on that ship."

"Like you?" Moira asked. Oh right, she was human and far less intelligent than he.

"Ah, I'm sorry, a telepath," he said, removing his fingers from his temple. He felt a presence in his mind this time. It was female, a dingy, dusty gray color and it tasted oddly of tainted snow. He wished he had the ability to block her as well. "This is incredible, I can actually feel her inside my mind. I don't think I'm going to be any help to you tonight. You're on your own."

Moira and the man in black looked at each other with shock and disappointment. He had been their entire operation, and now they find out that there is someone on that ship who could stop him from using his abilities? The situation had just become hopeless.

Charles smirked. They'd never met his little band of mutants before.

Charles connected with Ellie as she flew over the ship, scanning all of it with sensitive, raptor's eyes. As she circled, both of them saw a man with long, dark hair in a light-colored suit step forward and raise his palms, creating swirling patterns in the air with his fingers. Charles gawked in fascination as two huge, powerful whirlwinds sprang to life from his hands and then shot forward toward the speedboats.

"Oh, my God," Charles said.

"Jesus," Moira breathed in fear.

_Not even close Charles, _Ellie commented grimly. She watched as the two tornadoes slammed into the speedboats, sending them and their passengers flying into the black ocean and hurling a thick spray of sea up into the black air. A mighty din arose as the winds rushed past her ears and the sea groaned ferociously in protest. She circled back around, shaking her head to clear her ringing ears. The roar of the winds stirred up by the suave-looking mutant had deafened her for a moment.

"Get inside," the man in black said, ushering all of them into the ship and down to safer quarters. Charles didn't like leaving Ellie out there alone, but she could handle herself and he needed to see what was going on.

They were on the stairs headed down quickly when her raptor's eyes spotted something else. At first it was difficult for her to make it out. It was slick and wet as it slid out of the water and made of metal. It was lumpy and smooth and shining with stark white highlights on a long, thin, jet black body. It was…it was the ship's anchor chain, followed shortly by the anchor itself. The massive steel loops rose slowly out of the water, uncoiling like a behemoth serpent with scales that gleamed in the moonlight and clinking melodically when they rubbed together.

_Charles, _Ellie's mind voice whispered reverently. _Are you seeing this? _

_Yes, my dear. It's absolutely-"_Gah, ah!" he exclaimed out loud. He'd felt the mind as she'd seen the man, nothing but a head floating above the water, his hair slicked back by the ocean. It was so sharp and powerful and sudden that his knees nearly gave way and he fell back against the wall of the stairway even as his fingers migrated to his temple once again, the harsh sting of metal on his tongue.

"Charles!" Moira said nervously, reaching out to him. He did not have time for her human weakness right now! "Are you ok?" Of course not! He desperately wanted to lash out at her, force some bravery into that little mind of hers, but he did not. That was the solution of a villain, which he, thankfully, was not.

"There's someone else out there," he said instead, dashing through the closest door and back out onto the deck with the other two close behind him. "There." He pointed out over the Caspartina to where the anchor was floating several yards above it like an enormous snake coiling up to strike. Wisps of silver smoke clung to it, visible only through the incredible eyes of the osprey. He followed the long tendrils down to the water where they seemed to emanate from the mind he had just picked up. Charles didn't think he'd ever seen a mutant so powerful before in his life. His mutation made it possible for him to manipulate all forms of metal, and the incredible pain and rage that coursed through him only enhanced his already vast power.

Reluctantly, Charles turned his attention back to the great metal dragon working its way closer to Shaw's small form on the opposite side of the ship. A pale flash flitted dangerously close to the anchor chain as Ellie was buffeted by the breeze it was creating. She folded her wings and dived, narrowly avoiding getting pounded when the anchor surged forward with a violent roar and flare of power from the mutant in the water. The massive metal projectile smashed into the top of the ship, throwing debris in all directions. Ellie caught a glimpse of Shaw as he and his pale colored consort dashed inside to avoid the destruction.

Charles, Moira and the man in black watched with mouths agape as the enormous anchor demolished the ship. It swung back around and surged forward again, sheering off the top of the ship in a cacophony of splintering wood and shattering metal. Ship bits went flying off into the ocean and glass shot out everywhere. Ellie shrieked in pain as she was pummeled by the deadly projectiles, back winging away from it as quick as she could. He felt her pain in a hundred different places, and he heard the renewed ringing in her ears as the symphony of destruction and power berated her sensitive ear drums. Charles was helpless where he was and could do nothing to aid her.

_Charles! _she shouted to him, showing him something that sank his heart right down to his toes. She saw a bright light beneath the ocean, the lights of a submarine as it disconnected from the disabled vessel and sped away to safety.

Shaw was getting away.

The mutant in the water's power and anger surged once more as he locked onto the sub with his ability and desperately tried to stop it from leaving. Charles knew the extent of his power and also knew that he didn't have enough to raise the sub. His muscles were already vibrating with exertion and the submarine was dragging him through the waves. Ellie watched him and the wake he stirred up as he passed beneath her, her mind racing. He'd seen enough of Erik's mind already to know how much he hated this man, and that he wouldn't let go until Shaw was dead, he was dead or someone intervened. If no one stopped him this man would die, and Charles would be damned before he allowed a fellow to die on his watch.

"LET GO!" Charles shouted with every fiber of his being, his throat stinging from the force of his cry. "You have to let it go!" The man didn't hear him and continued to speed past them while Charles watched, again helpless. "You've got to help him," he turned and said to anyone who would listen. "There's someone in the water, you've got to help him!" Unfortunately, the only people who did hear were Moira and the man in black. "LET IT GO! You have to let it go!" The mutant was slipping away from him, and time was running out.

_Ellie! _he screamed to her in his mind. _Can you get him?_

_I can try Charles, but I can't shift again! _she yelled desperately back. He felt her trying her hardest to morph into something that could save him, but she was trying too hard and nothing was happening. Instead, she folded her wings and dived as fast as she could possibly go and clutched the collar of his wet suit in her razor sharp talons, flapping backward as hard as her bird muscles could flap. She was so small, only a fraction of his weight, and he didn't even notice her.

Charles felt like screaming in despair as the two of them disappeared under the black, icy ocean together and her mind went quiet.

They were getting farther and farther away, and if he didn't do something, they would both drown. So without a second thought (GASP!) Charles dashed up the side of the ship and hurled himself over the side, into the cold and unforgiving sea.

He'd timed it perfectly, Erik was directly beneath him when he entered the water. He wrapped his arms around the man and pulled as hard as he could while opening the floodgate that was Erik's mind. An onslaught of memories and personality and hatred and pain and rage buffeted him like a tsunami, and it took all of his willpower to project his own thoughts into the man's turbulent mind.

_You can't, you'll drown, _he said, trying to speak calmly. _You have to let go. I know what this means to you, but you're going to die. Please, Erik, calm your mind. _It was the shock of hearing his own name that forced him to let go, and Charles wasted no time in hauling him and Ellie back to the surface. He gently cupped her head with one hand and held it above the water as she burbled pitifully. Her feathers clung to her body and made her look even smaller, and she was freezing cold.

Erik's mind lashed out at him as well as his hands as he shoved Charles away shouting, "Get off me!" in a deep, rough voice. "Get off!"

"Calm down!" Charles tried to say, salty water burning his nose and throat and temporarily masking the metal of Erik's mind. "Just breathe! WE'RE HERE!" he screamed to the men on the ship. The two men and the bird bobbed up and down in the waves, water splashing into their eyes and ears as they struggled to stay afloat.

"Who are you?" Erik demanded, glaring at him with dark eyes.

"My name's Charles Xavier!" This wasn't exactly the best time for introductions, but if it got the man to calm down quicker, he was all for a nice chat while trying not to drown. Swimming never had been one of his many strong suits.

"Are you in my head?" Erik asked, taking an enormous gulp of air and still staring at him suspiciously. "How'd you do that?"

"You have your tricks, I have mine," Charles replied, spitting salt water out of his mouth in the process. "I'm like you, just _calm your mind!_" That was the real problem here. Erik was such a mess of pain and rage and confusion and suspicion that it was making it difficult for _Charles _to concentrate.

"I thought I was alone," Erik said a bit more softly, in a way that made Charles's little English heart want to break. This man had endured so much over the course of his life. At the root of everything, he was broken, and in that moment Charles set his mind on mending him.

Then he spoke those three little words that Erik would remember for the rest of his life.

"You're not alone."

**Whew! That one was a doozie! I just sort of started typing and it ended up at nearly six thousand words before I could stop it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of that scene. I do enjoy writing action. :) Next time, Erik and Ellie's first meeting (I know some of you were excited about that!). **

**Pardon any mistakes, this story is unbeta'd and it's super late at night for me. **

**Like I said earlier, twenty fifth reviewer… ;) **


	6. House of Slight Despair

**After that last monster of a chapter, I'm not at all sure how long this one's going to be. I'll just sort of play it by ear, or eye, or finger, or whatever it is I'm playing by. **

**Thank you to all subscribers, reviewers and favorite-ers! You are my inspiration and I love you all! **

Erik's eyes never left Charles's face. He felt the powerful man staring him down as the three were hauled from the ocean and deposited carefully on the deck, the crewmen shying instinctively away from Erik's imposing presence. He exuded such an aura of menacing might that everyone, including Moira and the man in black, steered clear of him. Charles may have given this a bit more thought on any other occasion, but he was quite preoccupied at the moment and Erik Lehnsherr was soon forgotten.

He clutched Ellie's drenched and fragile form to his chest gently and gazed down at her in confusion through the odd white lighting from the ship's searchlights in the black of the night. She hadn't moved a muscle since being pulled from the sea, and it was really beginning to worry him. Her mind was silent, the ever-present emerald flare and sweet tang of apples on his tongue where nowhere to be found. He had no idea how or where to take a bird's pulse, nor how to tell whether or not she was breathing, and his own pulse was starting to quicken as he waited for her to come back to him.

Blankets were brought, torches were lit and outer layers of clothing were shed, and still she did not wake. Raven came rushing up onto the deck and knelt beside him, scolding frantically and demanding to know why he'd been so completely brainless, but he really did not have the time nor the attention to spare to deal with her. To be honest, he was more concerned with the prone form of his best friend in his arms.

"Please, Raven. They were drowning," he told her, emphasizing to himself and the osprey in his arms the word 'were'. She would not die today, could not die today. Desperately, he cast about for something to do, anything! But there was nothing he could think of. The only experience he had with animals had come from Ellie, but she was in no condition to advise him. His mind was working overtime to try and come up with some solution, moving so quickly that thoughts were no longer forming completely before launching about inside his skull and sending him into a strangely dazed state. It was difficult to describe. He was at once going about a million miles per hour and unable to move at the speed of snail.

For once in his entire life, Charles Xavier was completely and utterly helpless.

"Is she alright?" Raven asked fearfully, reaching over to stroke Ellie's little wet chest.

"I don't think so," Charles replied absently, his brows knitting together as he scrambled for a solution in that massive mind of his. His face remained a stoic mask of serenity, but it was only to hide the turmoil he truly felt inside. The osprey's pale body was pitifully small in his arms, and still, it did not move. He swallowed, shoving the sorrow and panic back down. He refused to believe that it would be today. He absolutely, bull-headedly refused.

_It's not time for you yet, _he thought, but he knew he was only trying to convince himself. _Not time yet. You can't die…_

_You can't…_

_We need you…_

_I need you…_

With every rapidly increasing beat of his heart, he pressed his thoughts in the direction of her mind, not knowing if they'd found purchase for there was no mind left there to feel. He might have sat there for an eternity, or a mere matter of seconds, before his sister's voice penetrated the fog of fear and hopelessness that was settling over him.

"Here," Raven said in a very business-like manner, snatching Ellie out of his hands before he could even protest. "Let me see her."

Charles watched, transfixed as Raven wrapped the towel a bit tighter around the bird's body and began to rub vigorously, repeatedly sliding her hand up from her belly to her ribcage in a smaller and gentler version of the Heimlich maneuver. She did this several times, alternating between that and making little circles with her hand. He reached over to help her, rubbing Ellie's back and drying her wings, careful not to pull out any necessary feathers. On about the fourth cycle, an emerald spark flickered feebly in his mind vision and the taste of apples joined Raven's rather peachy flavor. Raven let out a little gasp and doubled her ministrations, now using both hands to massage the bird's body.

Then, in a great babble of animal instincts and fragmented human thoughts, Ellie lurched up and gave a mighty bird cough, water streaming from her wide open beak.

"There we go!" Raven exclaimed, patting the bird's back to help her expel the last of the sea water. "That's a good girl. You're ok, you're ok," she chanted softly, her hands and voice trembling with relief. Charles himself let out a massive breath that he hadn't even known he'd been holding. Ellie settled down in the nest of a towel and blinked up at them with her huge, yellow eyes while making small and unbearably cute bird noises. Smiling a bit to himself, he stood, (yes, he is man enough to admit that he was shaking all over from relief) gathering the bird and towel into his arms and thinking, _Don't ever do that to me again. _

_What? _She thought back wearily. _I never knew you cared so much. _

_Of course I do, _he thought back softly. _You're my best friend. _

If birds could cry, this one certainly would have. A hard and painful lump formed in her throat, and any reply she might have made was stifled by a surge of emotion so strong that Charles felt his knees buckle beneath him. Instead, she blinked at him with sleepy eyes and sent him an impression of happiness the color of a new sunrise, and a taste reminding him of his favorite candies overpowered his senses for a moment. It consumed her in that one moment, a joy she had never truly known before, and Charles didn't have to ask to find out why.

She'd always known she was part of their little family group, but at the same time she had always felt expendable, as if they didn't love her quite as much as they did each other. In four little words, he contradicted everything in her shoddy memory of family, and she felt well and truly loved for the first time in her life.

Charles nearly had to wipe a tear from his own eye at the sheer outpouring of happiness that flooded his mind and his heart, but he didn't. Charles Xavier was much too strong for that. Instead, he smiled down at her and scratched the place where her head met her neck as the surge of emotion faded and she lowered her head and fell asleep.

OxOxO

_It is dark, so very dark. There are no lights here, for they do not want us to feel hope. I know my eyes are gleaming, though I can't see them. They catch the tiniest traces of light, like the lion or the wolf, and in the deepest darkness, they glow. I cannot see much, just vague and motionless outlines of the others, locked in their own cages. They have been broken. Just like me. They make no sound, not even a whisper and Silence shrieks deafeningly in my ears. She is not interrupted, even by the scuttling feet of the rats that visit me in this place of darkness. _

_The steel of my cage floor bites into my skin and the heat presses in on me, stifling me, suffocating me. But I do not feel it. Not anymore. I do not feel the drip of the sweat down my back and I do not feel my many raw wounds. Perhaps the sweat is truly blood? I do not know, nor do I care. They will fix me, then tear me down again. _

_Silence is killed as the fan kicks on, drawing my splintered attention back to wetness dripping slowly down. They spare nothing, not even her. If it is even possible, the air grows still thicker. It coagulates in my throat, blocking it. My chest tightens, squeezing. I beg for release, promising anything, everything just to live. But there are no pacts between lions and men. _

_Damn you for reminding me of my own wretchedness. Damn you all…_

_Damn you…_

_He is the saint, I am the sinner, and I must be punished. He has not a face, only eyes and claws and teeth. With a word, he inflicts agony, and a thousand of them whisper sweetly in my ears. They are like tiny golden feathers, lifting me, buoying me in a vast red sea of nothing. Nothing but pain. _

_He speaks again, this time a million of those sugar-coated words burn into my very soul. They steal black blood from a body with nothing left to give. Blinding white light, all around. It flares, stealing the sight from my eyes and blocking out the sound of my own screams. _

_Those eyes mock me, with their icy blue depths…_

…_like a summer rain. _

_Ellie! _

_What monstrosity is this? A word that doesn't burn. Spoken from sweet lips like petals against my soul. But what does it mean? _

_Those eyes, they are not his eyes. They are…!_

Ellie lurched forward, darkness overwhelming her and a horrid shrill ringing in her ears, her throat burning like a thousand stinging insects were buzzing around in there.

"Ellie!" A shout from a deep voice broke through the shrill ringing, and that's when she realized it was her screaming. Her eyes flickered open and the darkness fled, replaced by the dim, grey room below decks of the Coast Guard ship. Her heart pounded violently in her chest, and she sucked air raggedly into famished lungs that felt as if they hadn't seen oxygen in years. Her tongue lolled out as she panted, eyes spread wide and pupils fully dilated as they darted from place to place and she desperately tried to convince herself that the nightmare was over.

But suddenly she wasn't staring at the bland, military grade room anymore. She was staring directly into the high quality fabric of a black suit jacket that smelled heavily of fine cologne with a hint of scotch. She didn't even realize she was shaking until his strong body, a rock in a turbulent sea, steadied her. She didn't know she was weeping until soft, pale fingers wiped the evidence away. She closed her mouth, closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose, drinking in his scent and using it to ground herself in the here and now. His warm arms enfolded her, and she clung to him like a life preserver, using him to chase away the demons hiding in the deep recesses of her mind.

Something soft and warm pressed into the mess of her hair as the image of a calm pond pressed into her mind. "It's alright," Charles whispered into her ear. "They've gone now. You're safe." His voice was soft and soothing, and before she knew it, the demons had fled, her breathing had regulated and her heart had slowed back down to a safe pace. With one last drag of Charles's sweet, familiar scent, she straightened and brushed herself off, most decidedly _not _looking at him.

Heat rushed to her face and she began to fidget anxiously, lamenting in her own weakness. She should not have to depend on him like that. She wasn't some helpless child who needed to fall into someone else's arms after an insignificant nightmare. Charles was not stronger than she was. She was steel and had been for thirteen years. She depended on no one. She was the bear and the wolf and the lion and the ox and the eagle all at the same time and she needed no one but herself.

"Yep," she said sharply, standing quickly and patting Charles once on the shoulder. She didn't see the stricken expression on his face as she fled the room, desperate for escape from her own weakness.

By the time she reached the deck of the ship, her reckless fit of pathetic-ness had ended and her emotions were safely back where they belonged. Her legs felt a little wobbly and her chest ached just a little, but no one ever would have guessed at the way she held her auburn head high, her back straight and her shoulders rolled back. Her emerald eyes flashed with their usual fire and her full, pink lips were set into their usual line. She raised an arched, reddish brow at one of the sentries and put a little swing into her step for his benefit, although the effect was somewhat lessened by the limp brought about by her damaged hip. She pulled her jacket tighter around her against the late night chill and lost herself in the uneven, hollow clicking sound her heeled boots made on the metal deck. Her eyes caught the light from the ship, and she could see every detail as clear as daylight. She knew from experience and the way that everyone flinched back from her that they were luminescent. She nearly smiled at their fear.

She might have too, if she had not run smack into a solid wall of masculine muscle coming around the next corner.

An indignant and quite unattractive cry of surprise escaped her throat when her backside landed solidly on the cold, hard floor. The sharp tang of steel assaulted her nose, but she couldn't be sure if it was coming from the very nicely built male that had just mowed her over or the floor he had landed her on. She was inclined to assume the latter. People didn't smell like steel. Or did they? After all of the odd happenings of the past few days, she wasn't so sure about what was possible and what wasn't anymore.

"Oh, excuse me," she said, forcing a chipper politeness into her voice that she really didn't have at the moment. While she was still itching for a chance to prove her strength to the universe, she didn't really think that this was the time, the place or the proper opponent. She would bottle that anger, that raging inferno, and when they finally caught up to Shaw, that's when she would set it free.

She peered up at the dark headed man through the blinding glare of the ship's lights, squinting to try and stem the flow to her sensitive eyes. She'd expected an outstretched hand, a chivalrous gesture that any gentleman would be more than willing to offer, but found none. Instead, he glanced down at her with cold indifference in those gunmetal grey eyes that made her heart skip a couple of beats. Without another word he raised his eyes, stepped around her and continued on his not-so-merry way.

Ellie's mouth flopped open in disbelief and her brows knitted together indignantly as her eyes blazed with annoyance. Her mind literally could not wrap itself around the fact that this man had just stepped around her and walked away without a backward glance, and her coherent thought process came screeching to a halt, flushed with choleric heat. The result of this was a highly ridiculous sputtering sound her mouth made as it tried to form words that her brain could not. An odd noise reached her that most (well, all) normal humans wouldn't catch, but her hypersensitive ears were far superior to human ears. In her incredulously infuriated state of mind, it took her a moment to identify the sound as laughter.

The asshole was laughing at her.

Red tinged the edge of her vision, and it took every ounce of willpower she had in her body to keep from shifting. Fortunately, her anger brought clarity and she found herself able to speak once again.

"Sir!" she shouted to him with a molten iron edge to her voice. Her tone more than the fact that she was trying to get his attention, actually got his attention. He turned to face her slowly, disdain and annoyance written in every contour of his handsome face.

You catch more flies with honey, she told herself. And this is one fly I would very much love to catch.

"I'm sorry sir, but would you mind helping me to my feet?" she asked sweetly, sugary innocence dripping from her voice and infecting her expression with its deceptively cloying aroma.

He wasn't even fazed. "Can't you get up on your own?" he asked, truly and utterly bored.

"Not without a great deal of pain and strain, actually. Help me and I'll show you why." The sweet, sticky candy in her voice hardened and took on a far-too-sharp cinnamon edge.

He studied her for a moment, his eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly as she tried to corral her eyes that so desperately wanted to wander. She tried so hard not to notice the incredibly thick, dark and smooth head of hair he had, and she did her best not to focus on the way every muscle on his made-of-stone body peeked out at her through his skin tight black turtleneck and open tan jacket, made even more prominent by the harsh lights shining down on them through the steadily receding night.

She was not succeeding.

With a palpable annoyance that radiated from his every surface, he moved forward and extended a single hand, staring down at her with a smirk he didn't even try to conceal. With a dazzling smile, she took the hand and used his immense strength to haul herself to her feet. It took nearly a full minute to get the bad leg up underneath her, but after much cracking of damaged tissues and gasps of pain, she managed to stand erect once again.

She was pleased to see that the contempt had slid off of his face once he realized that she really couldn't get up on her own. Hm, maybe there was some compassion in there after all.

As quickly and painlessly as possible, she turned and lifted the edge of her blouse over the damaged hip. Her skirt rode low enough on her waist to reveal the majority of the mangled tissue without her having to pull that down as well.

A deep scowl settling into the lines in her face, she looked back at the man and settled her hands on her hips, daring him to make an asinine comment. To her surprise, he did not. He only nodded indifferently. Well, it was a better reaction than the one she'd been hoping for.

"I really appreciate it…uh…?" she reached out her hand for him to shake as she reached for a name. With no other name to place on him, she decided to call him Asshole in her mind.

And she wasn't about to know either. He only scoffed and blatantly ignored the proffered hand, once more moving to go about his business without another word.

By God! How incredibly rude could one man possibly be? We-he-hell, she would beat some manners into him if she had to, and she was _not _leaving here without at least a name.

Quick as a flash, she sidestepped and cut off his retreat, assaulting him with the full blast of the infamous Ellie glare. Her eyes blazed up at him through her auburn brows like a wolf eyeing its next meal. In a mind-blowingly stupid move, he coolly met her gaze in (what her animal mind deemed) an unwavering challenge.

Heat consumed her every molecule, her blood boiling like molten lead and her rational thought process beginning to slow. She fought with all of her strength against the change she felt beginning to slide over her skin like an old friend. It was sweet, so delicious, its power, and it took everything she had to ignore the beast's call.

"Sir, I would be incredibly grateful if you would just give me your name and avert your eyes," she said in a dangerously quiet voice forced out through a clenched jaw.

The man's expression still did not change and she could almost feel the air temperature drop. He simply scoffed once more and looked down his nose at her, the contempt flickering back into place as if it had never left. "And why on Earth would I do that?" he asked with a hint of cruel amusement in his voice.

Ok, she would give up the name if only he would stop looking at her. Her own eyes were locked on his, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not tear them away. "You're challenging me, and as part animal, I must accept. If you don't look away someone will get hurt, most likely you." Her voice leaked desperation as her thoughts became even murkier, a red smog settling over them and turning them to pure, primal instinct.

Please look away, please lookaway pleaselookaway pleaselookawaypleaselookaway!

Her muscles were screaming in agony, and trembling with tension she could not afford to let loose. Tears glinted in the corners of her eyes from the sheer effort she was expending to try and close them, but the beast had tasted its opportunity for escape and would not go down easily. She was getting harder and harder to control, Asshole had mere moments before the point of no return was passed and she would consume the human.

No! Please! She didn't want to give in, she would not break! NO! I will not I will not! Please, oh please, don't let me kill an innocent man, even if he is an ass! Please look away, I can't hold out much longer, she's consuming me, all that I am, all that I was is her. She is wild I am wild we want fire we want blood. Challenge, must fight. Teach this young and insolent pup manners.

_Dear God!_ she pleaded. _Please don't let me hurt him, don't let me…_

_Charles, help me! Please! _

With the last ounce of self-control left in her body, she screamed out to him in an act of complete and utter desperation.

Then, the beast took her.

_Heat. Fabulous, delicious, malicious heat. I am the fire that consumes the forest. I am the wolf that stalks its prey at midnight. I am ferocious, I am powerful…and it's just so _good! _Claws on the floor, teeth against my lashing tongue, hackles prickling as they rise, ears laid flat and body trembling with excitement. Cells raging, bouncing…fire all around…consuming…fascinating…delicious. _

_There, target. Unruly pup. Insubordination. Eyes, all engrossing. Gunmetal grey like ice. Fire must decimate ice. Teach it who's boss. I'm boss. My pack. My rule. _

_Stealth, moving forward, muscles rippling smoothly. Fluid machine. Eyes locked. Claws on the floor, hackles raised, teeth bared, tongue lashing. Target still. Rage. Fire. Fight. Target still. Still…still…_

_MOTION! _

_Leap, paws ready, itching with thrill as the chase begins. Prey running, moving, fear in those gunmetal grey orbs. So delicious, mouth watering. Claws through flesh, the scent of blood, the sound of torn fabric. So foolish. Tried to run. Falling, down, fangs above face, claws in flesh. Low vibrations deep in chest. Deafening to own ears. Lips drawn back, eyes flashing, fire raging. Prepare to strike, to kill, to…_

_BLACK! _

_Sight gone, sound gone, scent gone, touch gone, taste gone. Beast gone. She slides back into her hole as all sense vanishes. I feel her lifting, leaving my body burning, my hip pounding with agony. Her anger leaves me, for there is no longer anything for it to burn. I can't see him, can't hear him, can't smell him, can't feel him, can't taste him. In the beast's mind, he is gone and her job is done. _

Charles watched with wide eyes as the wolf disappeared, leaving an exhausted and hurting Ellie in its place. As soon as the beast was safely caged once more, he left her mind, the stinging, biting instincts leaving him raw and bleary. She looked up at him from where she was on her hands and knees, shame overcoming her like the tide, an unstoppable force. She hung her head low, and her body convulsed with horrid, heart-wrenching sobs.

Oh, dear Lord. Ellie did not cry. Ever. To see such a stone creature reduced to a blubbering mess was a humbling experience, to be perfectly honest. His heart broke for her, but he did not move. She would accept comfort from no one now.

Erik sat up slowly, his eyes trained on the girl, no longer apathetic but wary. He'd seen her power, and as adamantly as he would deny it, she'd frightened him. For just one instant, Charles had witness real fear in the mind of a man who hadn't felt such an emotion in decades.

And Charles would never tell a soul.

**Ok, so I'm not at all sure how I feel about this chapter. I like parts, I don't like parts. I went for a bit of angst here, never tried it before so sorry if it sucked. This is also unbeta'd, so if anyone would like the job and is pretty good a writing, I'll take what help I can get. **

**Constructive criticism is crucial to my continuing with this. I need to know what you think of my attempt at some emotional stuff, so tell me! Love it, hate it, whatever. **

**Thanks to those of you who have reviewed and I did not get back to you personally. I've been super busy lately with college starting up next month, so I will try to get around to it soon! **

**Don't forget, twenty fifth reviewer…**


	7. A New House for a While

It seemed to Ellie, that every time they boarded _yet another _airplane, they got _yet another _unwanted addition to their little band. It had started out just the three of them, Ellie, Charles and Raven. The three musketeers as she sometimes liked to call them. They had lived together in Oxford for years after leaving Westchester so that Charles could go to school, and they had done so peacefully and without much turmoil until Moira arrived. Then things began to get out of hand. The group grew to four (an addition Ellie was most decidedly _not _happy about) as they boarded the plane to New York and then again to Langley. There they met some pompous and obnoxious bastards who were only good at throwing around insults and Ellie realized the true depth of her emotions toward one Charles Xavier. From Langley to Miami, they gained a man in black (whose name they still had not learned. Charles probably knew, but he wasn't sharing), had a less-than-thrilling confrontation with Sebastian Shaw and Ellie managed to lose her grip on her iron self-control more than once. She nearly drowned, had a terrible nightmare, wound up in Charles's arms, nearly killed a man and burst into tears in front of several people all in the same damn night! She was on fire! God, why did their lives suddenly have to explode with drama? She liked it much better when they were leading quiet lives filled with nothing but study in their little house in Oxford.

And now on the flight from Miami to some super-secret CIA research facility for freaks, they had gained another person. Erik Lehnsherr had not spoken a word or so much as glanced in her direction since the altercation on the Coast Guard ship that had left her in a mood fouler than any Charles could remember. She kept her distance from everyone, refused to look them in the eyes and kept her lips tightly sealed as they made their journey from the ship to the airport, through customs and out onto the tarmac. The familiar apple flavor that accompanied her mind was nearly overridden with sharp cinnamon anger and acidic self-loathing and icy desolation and despair. She was drowning in a monsoon of wretchedness and dark emotion that set a solid headache firmly behind his eyes. But no matter how painful it got for him, he thought only of her and tried to find some way to make it alright.

It would never be alright.

She'd lost control on that ship. She'd nearly killed someone because she couldn't chain the beast inside. It was mostly Erik's fault for being an ass, but she didn't see it that way. She saw only her own weakness and was certain that everyone must hate her for what she was. She despised the fact that people had seen her break down and cry, in a moment where she was so exposed, so vulnerable, and could not for the life of her put the shell back together again. Charles had managed to get most everyone off the deck so that she could suffer in peace, but when he himself had tried to go, she'd begged him raggedly not to leave her. With a deep pain in his heart, he sat beside her as she finally gave in and collapsed into his comforting embrace. It had done nothing to ease her sorrow, however, and she was anguished nearly to the point of no return. More than anything, she hated herself.

She made a move to tuck her carry-on into the overhead compartment above a seat next to Raven, but he put a hand on her arm to stop her. She looked at him then, with eyes so barren and void of life that he nearly flinched. This was not the Ellie he knew.

"I would like for you to sit back here with me," he said softly, searching those burdened eyes for the fire there. He could find no trace of it. She nodded in resignation and allowed herself to be led to the rear of the plane in silence.

_Charles? _Raven projected to him. _Is she alright? _

_No, _he responded. _But she will be. _

Thank God for Raven. She was such a bright girl, always seeming to know exactly what was going on, what to say and what not to say. He loved her for it and took a moment to savor the distinct peachy taste her mind left on his tongue.

Ellie took the window seat and stared blankly forward, giving absolutely no indication that she was still there. Charles wished she would scream, weep, curse the universe, _something! _Anything was better than this hopeless creature before him. He broke the connection her mind only to keep himself from being whisked away by the deep currents of despair that overwhelmed it.

An elderly couple approached them, wondering why two people had taken over their assigned seats. In less than a moment, Charles had them convinced that their seats were actually further up the plane, and they turned and left without incident. He glanced up to the place he knew the rest of the group to be sitting and swiftly, efficiently, cut them off from his mind one by one. He was to focus on one person right now, before she did something they would all regret.

Quietly and gently, he placed a hand over hers, waiting for her to make the first move. She wouldn't talk if she felt pressured, and he felt a tide of words she so dearly wanted to say threatening to break free at any moment. If he waited long enough, she would open up to him. She just needed to know that someone was there to listen.

Her auburn hair rippled in liquid waves, the red tones catching the sunlight and turning to fire as she shook her head. She looked down at their hands and back up at Charles, the scar on the side of her face lit up by the angle of the sun, the only mar to her proud and fiery beauty. The thought struck him that she resembled like an Amazon; tall, proud, strong and exotic with high cheekbones, golden skin and a lithe frame that was neither dainty nor delicate. She was heat and she was passion, even when that passion was shielded from the world. Or perhaps the world had been shielded from her. Even when she limped, she did so powerfully, and no one questioned her strength. She was shapely, rich with feminine curves and she wore them like a fine gown, though Charles had never seen her expose anything but her arms and legs before.

She looked up at him now and a spark leapt to life in her vivid green eyes. Her thick, mascara darkened eyelashes fluttered down as she glanced away. She could not look at him while she spoke what was hidden away in the deepest corners of her soul.

"I-I haven't had such a nightmare in years, Charles," she began shakily. Slowly, as if she had no control over it, her hand rotated under his to clutch at it desperately. "And I know it isn't just a nightmare. It's a memory, from before you took me in. You know I don't remember much about that time, and you haven't tried to reach it again since then. Why would such an awful memory be coming back to haunt me now? What does it mean?" she asked with wide, frightened eyes. He opened his mouth to reply, but she wasn't yet finished. "I nearly killed someone, Charles. I couldn't keep her locked away, and before I knew it, I was a wolf with my claws at his throat. I would have killed him if you hadn't come along. After all these years, I still can't control it! I shift at random moments, or I don't shift at all when the situation demands it. I can't just grow my wings without extreme concentration and strain, and even when I'm human she gets the better of me! How long before I lose control in a crowded place and really hurt someone? How long before the public breaks down our door because of my arrogance and stubbornness back at Oxford? How long before she consumes me entirely?" A single tear leaked from her eye and dripped sluggishly down to touch the tip of her scar. She beseeched him with her eyes, begging silently for answers to countless more questions she didn't yet have the ability to speak.  
>"I know I'm stronger than that. So why aren't I?"<p>

He met her eyes with his own crystalline ones, and she thought that she had never seen anything more lovely. He was all porcelain English skin and dark, sweetly ruffled hair. He was like the ice that broke through her inferno. He was cool and refreshing, slender and suave like the most dapper of English gentlemen. But at the same time, he was warm, comfortingly so, with eyes that were like twin shards of the clearest sky. He was her angel. Her fine, British angel that managed to bring out the best in her.

"I'm afraid I don't have the answers to those questions right now, love," his voice broke over her like water, smooth and soothing. "But I promise you, if it is the last thing I do on this Earth, I will help you find them."

She would love to have believed, even for just a moment that this ardent promise spoken with such fierce determination was an indication of some deeper feeling than she knew he really had, but she also knew that he would do the same for Raven in a heartbeat. Even so, this simple declaration from those masterpiece lips lifted her spirits like nothing else could have. Though she knew that nothing would ever be between them, with simple words he managed to make her feel lovely and worthy and strong. The dark cloud of self-hatred receded and shrank back into the far corners of her mind, forgotten for the moment but never truly gone, and she smiled gently at their joined hands.

Somewhere, amidst her innermost thoughts and feelings, where even Charles never dared to tread, she whispered, _If only you knew how much you mean to me. If only you knew that…_she leaned over and put her head down on the armrest on her other side, falling asleep even as she said, _…I love you. _

OxOxO

Ellie jolted awake as the car slid to a halt outside a fancy looking building. She rubbed her eyes and blinked blearily, stretching and yawning like a doe woken from a midday doze. She gasped when her fist collided with something fairly soft and warm and a barely stifled, "Agh!" told her that she had just punched Charles in the cheek.

"Oh, goodness, Charles I'm so sorry!" she said, aghast, pressing a hand to her gaping mouth.

"No, no," Charles sighed, rubbing his jaw and shooting her an affectionate glare. "It's quite alright, my dear. Raven, I'll get that."

Ellie stepped out of the lead car (they'd had to take two this time because of all of the other, ahem, people) and slung her small bag over her shoulder. God, when would they get to go home? She missed her clothes and her makeup and her shoes (oh, her shoes!) and her large collection of literature. Most of all, she missed the extensive forest and huge pond of the massive grounds in Westchester. Every morning, she got up, shifted and took off running wherever the hell she wanted! Running had been harder in Oxford. Less trees, more people and all. Not that she minded Oxford, it would just be nice to really run again. And to soar above the castle for hours on end and to swim the pond to her heart's content…

Nope, she couldn't think about that now. There would be time to sigh with longing and perhaps cry a little in secret later on when they'd settled in. She had a feeling they would be here for a while. With a quick crack of the neck and swift popping of the back, she took in her surroundings with the rapid efficiency that only an animal could possess.

Nothing escaped her notice, from the gentle sensation and fresh scent of the westerly breeze to the rigid sight of the stone buildings harsh angles to the soft and muted sounds of busy workers coming from inside the building itself. The place was surrounded by bare, scraggly trees and very little other vegetation. Ellie curled her upper lip in disgust. This place had once been a vast and magnificent forest home to hundreds, if not thousands of species of flora and fauna. The remaining traces of their lives and deaths were so faint that she could barely catch them, but she still scented them here and there. A shimmering figure wavered in the corner of her vision and she dared not look at it full on, lest the image flee. It was a spectral cougar, once the king of his domain, now reduced to little more than an energy signature. A pang of sorrow hit her in the gut like a brick, but she shoved it from her mind. She'd seen this more times than she could count, and she couldn't bring them back regardless.

Moira, Raven and Charles got mere moments after her (it took her less than that to take everything in) with the man in black and Erik Lehnsherr stepping out of the car behind.

"Welcome to my facility," the large, doughy man said proudly as the six of them studied the architecture, all but Ellie thoroughly impressed. Charles stuck his hands in his pockets and smiled faintly but eagerly at the stone fortress. "My mission has been to investigate the application of paranormal powers for military defense." He continued on, leading the way to the glass front entry.

"Or offense," Lehnsherr muttered at the same time that Ellie commented frostily, "A research facility for freaks." Charles sent her a dark look, so she shot one right back.

_You know it's true, _she projected for him to hear.

"This guy, Shaw, Schmitt, whatever you want to call him," the man continued. Ellie noted that he was speaking only to Charles and moved to walk beside Raven, feeling efficiently snubbed. Since they had picked him up, the fat man had been fascinated with Charles. Don't get her wrong, Charles is a fascinating man, but wasn't she just as interesting? How about Raven? Charles wasn't the only mutant here, and no one had designated him to be the boss of everything. Well, ok, that wasn't entirely true. He'd always been the unspoken leader of their little band, but that didn't mean that Ellie was alright with being practically ignored by everyone. Now she knew how Raven felt half the time. She was so busy wallowing in a fit of self-pity that she nearly missed what the man was saying.

"He's working with the Soviets. We might need your help to stop him."

She couldn't stop herself. "Ya think? A big, Hell Yeah to both of those painfully obvious statements. Of course he's working with the damned Soviets, the only question is why. And do you really think you could stop a powerful mutant like that without some of your own?" she snapped, shoving her way in between Charles and the man, forcing him to look at her. He gaped at her as if he'd never seen her before in his life, and she detected a hint of fear scent on him. Under her breath she added, "Government dipshits," hoping no one heard. Of course Charles did.

"Ellie please," he scolded, giving her a reproachful look as if she were an errant child. Then he returned his attention to the man and said, "So we're to be the CIA's new mutant division, yes?" with a bit of disdainful humor to his voice. They all knew that they had been forced into this, and none of them were really comfortable with the idea of being forced into the position of lab rat and soldier all at once.

The man seemed to sense some of that unease, for he was a bit less excited-sounding when he replied, "Something like that."

Ellie had to laugh. She and Raven shared a look before linking arms and bouncing merrily into the building behind the men. Oh, and Moira. She sensed several fights brewing on the horizon, a thought that filled her with animalistic excitement. The steady clicking of her heels on the horrid, acrid pavement beat like war drums in her mind, only ramping up her anticipation for the violent conflict to come.

These bubbly, almost giddy feelings vanished immediately upon entering the building. Its absolutely heinous bland décor of steel and stone was enough to suck the life out of the most energetic of people. So boring! So incredibly boring! It hurt Ellie's eyes to say the very least. A sickly chill that only comes with buildings made of stone in the north sank deep into her bones, causing her to shiver. Everything, right down the single flower in the lone pot on the only table in the very center of the room was either a deep, slate gray or a highly polished, mottled brown color that absorbed nearly every ounce of light and comprised entirely of harsh angles and rigid lines. It looked like the inside of a prison.

This effect was only increased by the fact that about ten feet from the door, where the 'foyer' area ended, all pretense of caring anything about appearances ended. So did the walls, floors, windows and everything else. It looked as if midway through construction of the building, the builders got tired and decided, to hell with it and left their equipment in heaps all over the bare bones floors and the unfinished walls of the three hallways branching off in three different directions from the main, um, lobby. On a closer look she realized that all this was scientific equipment, wires and pipes and gauges that came out of the floor and ran off in all different directions to God knows where. Some other, more sinister looking things were store here, hung on the walls or sitting on top of boxes on the floor. She didn't have a clue what they could possibly be used for and she really didn't want to find out. Her lip curled again in disgust as the scents of heavily oiled metal, questionable experiments and various other alloys hit her smell receptors. It brought a bit of a sting to her eyes actually, and she found herself blinking rapidly.

"You ok?" Raven asked in a hushed whisper. She seemed to be reluctant to disturb the dead silence that had settled over them since they'd entered the building.

Well, Ellie wasn't. "Yeah, it's just this awful smell," she practically snarled.

"I don't smell anything." Raven looked around and lifted her nose to the air, sniffing loudly.

"I guess it's just my animal nose then." The man in black glanced at her, his eyes glinting softly. Hm, finally realized that Charles isn't the only special one in this little party, have you? Good. Ellie would show him just how special she was before this was over.

She scowled at the backs of Charles and the man's heads as they continued forward. There was about a six inch drop from where the brownish floors of the lobby stopped, and she stumbled, nearly landing on her butt in front of everyone. Add this to her already foul mood and you have yourself a proper Ellie bitch-fest. Quick as a flash, she flew into such a rage that the others backed away from her, attempting to dodge her furiously flying limbs.

"Oh, dear God! What the hell is this anyway? What sort of respectable government department forgets to finish their damn building! That is a hazard, right there! I've never seen such an unkempt, disorganized disgrace for a _government _facility in all my life!" She was still blissfully unaware that the entire party had stopped in the middle of the hallway and were gaping at her as if she'd gone mad. Well, they weren't exactly wrong, were they? "Who the hell do you people think—"

A soft but firm hand on her arm halted her in mid-rant. She breathed heavily through her nose and glared at Charles. Didn't he see that he was part of the problem? Of course not. He would never see.

"You'd better take your hand off me, Charles," she warned through gritted teeth. He did not back away. Instead, he looked up at her with those damnably clear eyes (that looked a bit more like ice at the moment) and said quietly,

"Ellie, you need to calm yourself. You're starting to give me a migraine. Is there a particular reason you're behaving so irritably _this time?_ Do you need to lie down and rest for a bit?" She didn't miss the slight emphasis on the phrase 'this time' and her mind briefly flashed back to their conversation on the plane. She had no idea why she was still so angry. Talking to Charles always seemed to help clear the red haze of fury (or depression) from her thoughts.

"No, I'm not a kid," she snapped, then sighed apologetically. "What I need is a good long run." Immediately she knew it was the truth. She hadn't gotten out to do anything in almost a week now, and the animal inside was getting restless. She needed to let off steam and expend some energy. The first chance she got, she'd be outside at a full sprint for as long as she could hold it.

Charles nodded once and smiled reassuringly at her before gesturing for the group to continue walking toward the large door at the end of the hall. All of a sudden, Ellie was all too aware of the way they were all looking at her. The man in black looked as if she'd just insulted his mother, standing there with his mouth open and his eyes swimming. Moira looked disapproving, as if she had any right whatsoever to disapprove of Ellie's actions. Erik looked a bit angry, but then again he always looked like that, and slightly amused, and Raven had concern in those big, blue doe-eyes of hers.

Ellie sighed once again, wrapped an arm around the blonde shifter's shoulders and followed the rest of the group into the huge room that could only have been a hanger.

**Dearest readers, favoriters, subscribers and magnificent reviewers: Please accept my sincerest of apologies for my lateness in getting this to you. I have been working tirelessly (Well, that's not true. I'm actually exhausted) on moving to college in about three days and have had precious little time to do anything at all. However, here it is all the same. I left it at a bit of a cliffie, but I'm sure you all know what's about to happen. Pardon any mistakes, I don't have a beta and it's about one in the morning here in sweltering Texas and I'm about to drop dead at any moment. I'll reread it in the morning and if it's totally heinous, I'll fix it. **

**As always, hope you love it and reviews are loved! **


	8. Mad House

**Once again, I beg your pardon in being so late. I am going to admit that updates will be a bit sporadic from here on out. College starts very soon and this is not my top priority. Just be patient with me. :)**

Hank McCoy. A mutant. How absolutely fascinating! Charles's attention was entirely focused on the young man fiddling with his model in the center of the spacious hanger from the moment the door opened. Why weren't they told that there was another mutant here already? He might have checked, but was a little preoccupied with the nature of this man's mutation. It wasn't his incredible brain (which was astounding in itself) but something a bit more physical. He would have to get a look at those feet before the day was over.

A smile began to light up his face as the group neared the mutant, stopping just short of his marvelous model jet. Charles gripped the railing in front of him, now grinning from ear to ear. It was absolutely incredible! The young man's intelligence itself was far beyond anything he'd ever encountered before, including his own. Charles immersed himself in Hank's mind, lapping up bits of information and memories like a child in a candy shop. Finally, a mind he could relate to.

The spindly little man in the lab coat and khaki pants turned to them then, a goofy, nervous smile on his bespectacled face.

"It's, uh, supersonic," he said, noticing the rapt expressions on the groups' faces as they gawked at the plane suspended from the ceiling. Charles cast it a courteous glance as well, not wanting to appear as if he were staring at the unassuming mutant before him. Hank had designed this plane, this marvel of its generation. Charles was much more interested in the mind behind the machine, but Ellie was starting to send him funny looks. He put a hand on her arm in assurance that he had not lost his mind. "The most advanced plane ever built," That is most certainly was. "You should see it in real life. It's incredible."

Yes, he would make a fine addition to the mutant division.

"Hank," the man in black cut in, his sharp, high voice cutting through Charles's mind like a blade. God, he'd be glad when he could get away from this man for a while. "These are the special new recruits I was telling you about," Charles didn't miss the fact that the man gestured only to him as he spoke. "Hank McCoy, one of our most talented young researchers."

Charles leapt at his chance to speak to the one called Hank, stepping briskly forward and extending a hand almost before the man in black had finished speaking. "How wonderful, another mutant already here! Why didn't you say?" he asked, turning back with Hank's hand still firmly gripped in his own. He nearly missed the tiny shock from Hank's mind and the bemused expression on the suited man's face that turned his blood to ice. Oh dear.

A quick scan of the man's mind confirmed his fear and shame washed over him like the tide. Never in his life had he done something so stupid, so irresponsible! And here he was, letting his excitement get the better of him and failing to do the one thing that Charles Xavier always did without exception—think! Because of him, a man's career may be in jeopardy. You arse, Charles!

"Because you don't know," he said, ignoring the man's question of "Say what?" and turning back to a crushed-looking Hank. "I am so, so terribly sorry." Charles nearly had to force the words out through his immense horror at having outed someone. Hank wouldn't meet his eyes.

The large man stepped forward and Charles moved away and slipped out of the young man's mind, hating himself for the trouble caused for the brilliant young mind. He was certain that he would spend the rest of his life making up for this incredible idiocy on his part. "Hank?" the man asked in a voice filled with awe. Hank looked down, shaking his head in an unconscious gesture.

"You didn't ask, so I didn't tell," he said, only glancing up once as he made a noncommittal gesture that convinced no one.

Charles felt that the situation couldn't have gotten much more awkward and was trying to work out some way of salvaging it when he was saved by his gift-from-God sister.

"So your mutation is what, you're super smart?" Raven asked, walking forward and gazing at Hank with the same fascination Charles had felt only moments ago, although with a little something thrown in there that her brother hadn't felt.

"I'll say," he said, hoping a compliment would ease some of the tension in the air. "Hank here graduated Harvard at the age of fifteen." Hank didn't appear to have heard him. He had eyes only for Raven as he replied, "I-I wish that's all it was."

"You're among friends now, Hank," Charles said, doing his best to be encouraging even when Hank looked at him as if he'd like nothing more than to kick him with those magnificent feet of his. "You can show off." He glanced down at the wonderous features he knew were painfully hidden by the young scientist's shoes. For a moment he thought that Hank might actually kick him, but he knew the other man too well already. Hank was a gentle soul, but not above some inner grumbling and few choice words as he kicked off his shoes and removed his socks for his delighted audience.

Charles couldn't contain a chuckle as the many-knuckled toes uncurled like leaves on a fern. They even had opposable thumbs, amazing!

A voice beside him breathed in awe, "Extraordinary!" he looked over at Ellie and shared a grin, happy that her anger had abated for the moment. She would want to get a closer look at those feet as well. Perhaps Hank would agree to letting the both of them study together? That way it would be over more quickly, for him of course.

"Splendid," he agreed, watching the toes flex and the muscles contract.

Hank looked up then, grinning at Raven and looking a bit more pleased with his sudden popularity as he moved to stand under the wing of the model plane. "Sorry," he said when the others moved out of the way. All but Erik who was still leaning back against the rail, some ten feet away.

Then, without warning Hank leapt up into the air, flipping over as his did so and latched on to the plane's wing with his marvelous feet. "Ta-da," he said as his arms splayed out in the air and his hair hung in all different directions and the group laughed in amazement all around him. Charles felt what he felt and knew that for the first time in his life, Hank was pleased with his mutation. His pleasure grew when Raven moved to stand very close to him and said, "You're amazing." Hank grinned from ear to ear then, looking awfully silly all upside down like he was but happy for the first time in a long time.

"Really?" he asked.

Raven smiled and nodded back.

OxOxO

Charles felt that he could have spent the rest of the day in that hanger deep in conversation with Hank the genius, but in time the group was shooed away and escorted deeper into the facility to be shown their rooms. The trek was a long one, and Charles felt Ellie's lingering excitement fade away as they moved deeper into the dark, labyrinthine research building. Soon she was back to her irritation of a short while ago with seemingly no rhyme or reason. He pondered this for a moment. Ellie often became irritable but never without a good reason. The steady fumes of barely suppressed anger were just beginning to set a firm headache behind his eyes when it hit him. He smiled as he identified the culprit and moved to take her arm gently.

She looked at him with brows knitted in aggravated confusion, but he shook it off and said quietly, "How long has it been since you've had a good run?"

She stared at him for a moment before answering. "Not since before we left Oxford. Why?"

"I think that might be the reason you're feeling so irritable right now. Maybe you should let the animal off her chain for a while?" he said, leaning in close to whisper.

"Irritable?" she snapped, drawing away from him as if she'd been slapped. "What do you mean irritable? I'm fine. Why do you even care anyway?" Fire danced in her eyes as she turned the full-blown power of the Ellie glare on him, but he had long since become immune to its searing heat.

Instead of being cowed, he snapped right back at her, taking her by surprise. "Because if you'll stop being quite so snappish, I'll take your bag for you and let you go out for a while alone. You do need to learn to control your temper. I've done nothing wrong; to the contrary, all I've done is try to help you. Now, do you want to run or not?" The flames dimmed as quickly as they had risen and she lowered her head, hiding her face from him.

"I'm sorry, Charles. You're right. I shouldn't be ugly to you of all people." Her voice was so low that he had to lean forward to catch it, completely oblivious to the scene they were causing. The others had all stopped to stare, but he brushed their presences away like buzzing flies. Her small bag dropped into his hand and without a word, she turned and walked dejectedly back the way they'd come.

Charles narrowed his eyes at her retreating form. On second thought, he wasn't quite so sure if it was a good idea to let her go out on her own in this state of mind. The girl was downright reckless when she was upset. Another thought plagued his mind as she disappeared around the corner. What on Earth could she have meant by 'of all people'? Why was being rude to him any different from being rude to Raven or Erik? Hm, perhaps he and his sister needed to have a little chat once things had settled down a bit. Ellie was keeping something from him, and he had a sneaking suspicion that his sister knew.

Without looking back, he called to the one person with the power to safeguard her from her own dark emotions.

"Erik," he said.

"What?" came the icy reply.

"I realize that you have no desire to do so and after recent events I don't blame you, but you're the only one here capable of doing what I'm going to ask of you."

"Get to the point, Charles," Erik said as he came to stand next to him, looking down at him with apprehension.

"I want you to tail her, talk to her, anything to keep her preoccupied. I know it's a huge favor to ask, but I must. I don't trust her when she gets like this, and I feel you're the only one with the power to stop her doing anything rash." He looked up at the larger man and nearly failed to notice the faint echo of the word, 'anything?' in his thoughts. Much to Charles's surprise, Erik merely nodded and set off back down the hallway at a brisk pace.

Somehow not quite satisfied, he shouldered Ellie's bag anyway and rejoined the group, winding his arm through Raven's as they continued on to their chambers, trying to quiet the growing sense of unease settling firmly in his thoughts.

OxOxO

As soon as she was out of mind reach Ellie shifted, reveling in the liquid power and grace that was her panther's form. She let out a soft sigh of relief when the animal obeyed on the first go. That was an unusual occurrence these days. Men leapt out of her way as she streaked off down the hallway, following their scents from moments ago (well, once scent in particular), a fluid shadow that was there and gone too fast for them to realize just what it was they'd seen. She even snarled at a few, rejoicing in her strength and ability to instill fear in the hearts of men. In no time at all she burst out into the open, her worn paw pads barely feeling the change from smooth and polished floors to rough concrete to well-manicured lawn as she shot across the grounds like a rocket toward the woods.

Her muscles bunched and released in perfect harmony at her tiniest whim, her body obeying her every command like a well-oiled machine that oozed power. Just for the hell of it, she ran with her claws unsheathed, slicing all in her path like a hot knife through butter. The universe opened up to her, presenting its sights, scents, tastes, sensations and sounds on a silver platter. Everything was multiplied here, including the electric tingling sensation that licked across her skin and charged her entire body with joyous energy. She saw the woodland creatures scatter in terror before her. She heard the pattering of their tiny feet and the beats of their frantic hearts. She smelled the delicious, musky scent of the layer of decaying foliage that carpeted the forest floor as she stirred it with her pawsteps. She felt the wind ripple through her midnight colored pelt, reacting with the live electricity there and igniting a pleasure so intense that she lifted her face to the heavens and yowled her sheer joy for all the world to hear.

It didn't even occur to her that she no longer felt pain in her hip. She paid no heed to the tiny crick in her joint that barely slowed her down. Her adrenaline was flowing too quickly for such mundane things as pain to affect her now. She would pay for it in the morning, but right now was all that mattered.

Ellie lost herself in her joy, in her panther self. She simply stood aside and gave over control to the animal, immersed herself so deeply in her ecstasy that it was all she knew. For a moment, just a moment, she relaxed her rigid self-control, melted into the panther's instincts and simply enjoyed being alive.

She was nothing but pounding feet, exhilarating power and ferocious, joyful, animalistic heat as she tore across the forest floor. She was completely enfolded by a happiness that was millennia old. It was a happiness known to every animal that had ever lived in the many millions of years of Earth's existence. It was the joy of running.

Of being free.

Of being alive.

And so she ran.

Transcending time…

…and space.

Until there was nothing left but paws and fur and heart and soul and

RUNNING!

Finally, when her body felt that it would collapse if she took another step, Ellie emerged to take back control from the panther. Sated and happier than she had been in quite some time, she went willingly and sank into a deep slumber in the back of Ellie's mind. Ellie soon followed suit, curling up on a particularly soft patch of moss, wrapping her tail around her body and over her nose and falling into the deep, dreamless sleep that only exhaustion can bring.

OxOxO

She smelled him before she heard him and she heard him before she saw him, emerging through the trees like some gunmetal god come to call. It was his imposing presence that brought her back to the land of the living as he moved to sit next to her with no trace of his usual icy scowl. Surprised, Ellie sat up on her haunches, wrapping her tail over her paws and looking at him with unnaturally green eyes. He looked back for a moment before speaking in that deep, masculine voice that set her fur to tingling.

"Charles sent me to watch you," he said, something strange flickering behind his eyes. Something she couldn't quite place.

Sensing no danger she relaxed, lying on her belly and extending her paws so that they brushed Erik's leg.

_Did he now? _she thought. If he was at all surprised by her mental communication he didn't show it. Then again, Erik rarely showed anything except cold indifference. Or perhaps boredom.

He nodded, a single finger dropping down to tough the silky fur of her foreleg. The minute contact sent a tremor up her spine that had nothing to do with cold.

She cocked her head to the side. _So why did you do it? _Her mind voice was nearly a whisper. _I thought you would hate me. _

Erik chuckled. Erik! Chuckled! Without any trace of malice or contempt. How queer. "Mutations are difficult to control," he said, another finger dropping down with the first. "I don't blame you for what happened. Respect? Of course. Resent? Never." His voice was uncharacteristically gentle. Not that she even knew him very well, but what she did know of him pointed in the complete opposite direction than the one he was going in. The odd thing was, she didn't care. He spoke with a softness that had never been directed at her before, and it felt amazing.

Without shifting positions, she morphed, melting back into human form lying on her belly with her fingertips grazing his leg. His gaze smoldered down at her with a cold sort of intensity and effortless sexiness that spoke directly to her inner beast. He was in his element out here. Even in the middle of the forest, her element, he was in control without even having to try.

His hands dropped down to do the job his fingers had been doing until then. His massive hands engulfed her little feminine wrists with a silent strength and warmth that went straight through to her bones. A flash of something dark on the inside of his arm caught her eye, momentarily distracting her from his touch.

"Erik," she said slowly, gazing up at him through her lashes. "May I see your arm?"

His face hardened so fast that she barely noticed the shift. His grip on her wrist tightened to the point of pain, but she did not flinch or make a sound. "Why would you want to see that?" he asked in a cold, clipped tone.

"Because I have a natural curiosity," she said softly. "And I understand deformities of the skin better than most. I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

He studied her for a moment, gunmetal grey eyes boring into her as if searching for deceptions. He must have found none, for without taking his eyes from her, he let go of her wrist and slowly revolved his arm to make visible the small, unassuming black tattoo born from the blood of millions of people.

Knowledge hit her like a brick and she sat slowly, unable to pull her eyes away from the atrocity forever imprinted on the man's skin. Even when he hid his arm, her eyes followed it and trained on the place she'd last seen the mark.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream, she wanted to tear the bastards responsible limb from limb. She wanted to do so many things, but couldn't bring herself to move or make a sound. That tattoo was a memento of the millions of lives lost to one man's warped idea of perfection and justice. It was an echo of the dying screams of too many innocents who'd done nothing in their lives other than exist. Babies, women, the elderly. No one had been safe from the carnage that had cut a swath through Europe all too recently.

Finally, after what seemed like years, she found her voice again. "Where did they take you?" she whispered, meeting his eyes for the first time.

"Auschwitz," he replied, his expression unreadable.

"I'm so sorry, Erik," she said, though it was a sadly inadequate statement. It in no way encompassed the depth of her emotions or did anything abate them. It was just something to say. Some way of letting it out, even a tiny part of it.

He said nothing, only staring at her with those unfathomable eyes. She felt compelled to speak as if by some supernatural force. "It's my turn I suppose," she stated, standing in one nearly fluid movement and trying to ignore the surging pain in her hip. Shaking out her hair in the golden light of an afternoon sun, she took a deep breath and lifted the hem of her blouse until it came just beneath her breast, revealing her own atrocities and the demons she'd hid for so many years.

Thick, roping, ranging, purple lines, puckered and angry, crisscrossed her golden skin, turning her torso into mangled mass of destroyed flesh. Slowly, breathing heavily through her nose, she revolved on the spot, giving him a good view of her hip as well as her back where the largest scar exploded in a starburst shape and eradicated what had once been lovely.

Erik said nothing, and after a moment she sat back down and covered herself once more. He would never know how much that little peep show had cost her. They were her secrets, ghosts of past horrors that she had long since failed to banish completely from her mind. Worst of all, they were ugly. They made her hideous. Or perhaps they were only reflections of the hideousness within? She was a bitch, she knew that much. She was snappy and rude and mean. She wasn't very intelligent, and the rest of her certainly wasn't attractive. She was a beast. A mindless animal that Charles only tolerated because he pitied her. She was weak, cowardly, and her soul was about as black and withered as King Tut. She was strange with odd preferences and beliefs that no one understood, and she was incapable of ever being pleasant. The last few days had proved that.

What man would ever want a woman as pathetic and lowly as she? Certainly not the only one she'd ever wanted to want her. He was too good, too pure and righteous. His soul was untainted and beautiful and much, much too wonderful to ever move too close to one like hers. She would never be wanted. She would never be seen as anything other than a charity case. She would never be loved.

Her scars told her these things every time she looked in the mirror.

And so she hid them away from the world, petrified of them and the things they meant and the past they represented and the pain that had caused them. She hadn't realized that tears were flowing down her cheeks until a cool thumb gently wiped them away.

God dammit, you weak idiot! She would not cry in front of him AGAIN! She was better than this!

_No you aren't, _said a voice in the back of her mind. With a snarl, she dragged a rough hand across her face and swallowed her emotions with practiced ease. When she looked up at him, she was stone and it unnerved him. He could be cold and calculating, but never before had he been as dead as the creature before him.

"Who made them?" Erik asked her, suddenly finding himself inches away, his nose nearly brushing her own. Her eyes flicked down to his lips and back up again. They were so close now, and they almost seemed to beckon. The urge to lean forward was nearly overwhelming, but she would be strong.

"My father," she said.

And he was closing the distance between them, smashing their mouths together with bruising force, his teeth scraping against hers, his tongue forcing entry, but she didn't have the strength to deny it. The animal reared its ugly head, sensing an outlet, a mate to satisfy the heat that had burned inside her since she had turned eighteen. She had denied it as long as possible, wanting, hoping, _praying _that Charles might be the one, but her human side had been wrong. Love played no part in the couplings of animals, and the animal was stronger here.

Silly human. Who could ever truly want you? He's only doing this because he knows we can't resist any longer. He's a male, and we are female. We have needs, and you have not satisfied them. So I will.

Ellie faded, and Inferno took over.

Heat. Oh, delicious, magnificent heat. Searing my body, a thousand lightning strikes of ecstasy. A mate, finally a mate! Long have I waited for this, hungered for this. My bare skin in on fire, his fingers igniting and stoking it until I scream with its magnitude. His body is everywhere. Above, below, inside. He wastes no time. Yes, please, now! Don't wait, I can't wait any more.

Ouch.

Stop, that hurts.

Arrggh! Stop it! Make it stop!

Ow! Please, I'm begging you!

Pain.

Pain.

So much pain.

OxOxO

Her heart pounded violently in her chest, her breath coming in loud, ragged gasps as she burst through the front door of the facility. The animal slept soundly in the back of her mind once more, satisfied and exhausted while Ellie remained fully awake and aware. And horrified.

Oh, dear God, what had she done? She gave in. She let the animal win again! She was worthless, weak and unfit to call herself human! Her core ached with a throbbing pain that she embraced. She deserved it. She deserved whatever torture God decided to throw at her. She was lower than dirt and more repulsive than slugs! She was vile and she deserved the pain and the blood.

Her mind raged with self-hatred, anger, shame and fear. They consumed her as she raced down the hallways toward the vicinity of her room. Escape. She had to escape. At the same time, there was nowhere to go. Charles was just ahead, she could smell him. She sensed his questions at her mind's overwhelming distress. He'd sent her out to run so she would feel better, and she'd come back on the verge of hysterics.

She couldn't contain the pained sounds that escaped her throat as she came upon him, her face screwed up in agony. Her room. She needed her room. He would not see her break. He would NOT!

"Good Lord, Ellie, what on Earth's happened?" he asked her, nothing but concern and mild panic in his face. She saw none of it.

"Where is my room?" she demanded desperately, her eyes dancing with a strange light that bordered on madness.

"Ellie, what is it? You can talk to—"

"ROOM, CHARLES!" she shrieked, the sound of her voice alien. It was stark, raving mad and it foretold violence if he didn't answer.

For the first time in his life, he was absolutely terrified of her. Her scream made him flinch and jump, and he barely had time to flash her a mental image before she was gone again, hurling a thought back at him as she flew.

_And I swear to God, Charles, if you trespass in my head I will not be held responsible for whatever happens to you. _

Hurt surged through him at her words, and his mind cringed away from her emerald-and-apples thoughts like a threatened child. She'd never spoken to him like that before. What could have possibly happened to her to drive her so insane? For that's what she had been. He'd seen it in her face and her mind. Something had pushed her beyond the edge, and she'd truly snapped. She was frenzied, feverish and desperate, and he knew that her threat was a promise. He would not be looking in on her to find out. He could only hope that she would calm down eventually. He prayed that she would be alright.

**Getting a bit more angsty here, I think. I don't know how I'm doing with it, so feedback is essential! This story is Ellie-centric, so Charles's parts are smaller and less in depth right now. They'll probably get a bit more extensive as the story goes on. Just thought you should know that. **

**P.S. I'm doing this super late at night again, so forgive mistakes and shoddy quality. I shall make up for it, I promise!**


	9. God's House is Love's House

**Warning: RELIGION (why that has to be a **_**warning**_** I have no earthly idea). I'm not trying to convert anyone, but I know God and therefore my original character knows God. If this offends you, sorry but it's a story and you don't have to take it to heart. I believe in tolerance and that goes both ways, people! **

**Now that I've gotten off of my soap box, I shall commence with the story! In case of any confusion, yes, Ellie and Erik did. ;) **

The emerald flare in the corner of Charles's mind vision continued to warp and pulse with a strange fervor that he had never before seen in her until he moved far enough away from it. He could still sense its frenzied flux of raw emotions and rapid fire nonsense thoughts, but they no longer fried his concentration.

He desperately wanted to look, to slip into the murky rapids of her thoughts, but the very thought filled him with dread.

And fear.

For the first time in his existence, he was afraid of her. His heart was racing in his chest as he made his way outside. He needed some fresh air to cool the sudden heat from his face. Though he looked as serene and in control as always (he had long ago perfected the art of the mask), inside he was scrambling to make sense of things.

That threat had been real. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, without looking, that if she felt him meddling around in her mind, she would not hesitate to tear him apart. It may well kill her when she came to her senses, but the deed would still be done and he would still be dead. He didn't particularly wish to be dead at the moment. He would much rather prefer to be alive, thank you very much. He especially did not wish to die at the hands (or claws, as the case may be) of one person he cared for most in the world. It would also be a fairly painful death that would involve disembowelment, dismemberment and blood. Lots and lots of blood.

Yes, having Ellie kill him would be an incredibly unpleasant experience, so he decided to avoid it at all cost.

His cavalier attitude in no way meant that he belittled the situation. He very well understood the gravity of it all, but keeping light and logical helped the thinking process which helped alleviate the fear. Rationality was the mind's defense, and mankind's defense against most ills. Unfortunately, Charles Xavier seemed to be the only one on the planet who understood this. Ellie certainly did not, that much was evident from her rash, impulsive actions. Although, she really couldn't always help it. Animals weren't generally very reasonable beings. And even Charles had to admit that there was something endearing about her bestial nature, her passion and her conviction that came from a place that the mind could neither touch nor explain.

He found himself comparing the two of them, him a cool river to her raging volcano, but rather than proving to him how little they had in common it seemed to highlight the ways they were compatible. He was comfortable with her, and he knew her inside and out. Better, even, than he knew himself.

Of course, he loved Raven as well. She was his sister, but there was just something different about his relationship with Ellie. Something he couldn't quite place…

A flicker of metal on his tongue alerted him to the stirring of a nearing mind. Erik was heading up the hallway toward the door, his thoughts entirely focused on escaping with is prize. Charles didn't even have to read to find out that that prize was Shaw's file. He knew Erik too well now. With a knowing smile, he melted back into the shadows just outside the door of the building. Erik wouldn't notice him until Charles desired it, putting him in control of the situation. As usual.

The tall man bustled past him without a second glance, completely oblivious to Charles's presence, briefcase clutched tightly in his hand. Shaw was a constant fever in his mind, consuming everything he did, and Charles really hadn't expected him so stick around for so long.

Sensing his cue he stepped from the shadows, the picture of control and benevolence, and said "From what I know about you, I'm surprised you managed to stay this long."

Erik's mind may have jumped when Charles revealed himself, but the man was stoic and showed no hint of any surprise. He turned his icy eyes on Charles and demanded, "What do you know about me?"

Without hesitation, Charles replied. The truth could not be doubted in his face. "Everything."

With equal swiftness and conviction, Erik nearly growled, "Then you'll know to stay out of my head," before turning to continue his journey, trying to prove to Charles that he was not in the position of power here. Erik was and he would show it by leaving even though he'd been caught. Charles nearly laughed at the man's delusions. He would stay. He only needed the right words. Words that Charles had ready-made.

"I'm sorry, Erik, but I've seen what Shaw did to you," he said, stepping forward as Erik moved away. It worked, and he froze, his mind racing. Erik made neither sound nor motion, so Charles continued, letting emotion slip into his voice. "I felt your agony. I can help you."

Now it was Erik's turn. Charles saw the gears turning in the man's mind in reaction to his words. He shifted his feet in the heavy silence, sensing the reply building on Erik's tongue. Sure enough, after a long and laden pause, he slowly turned and nearly growled, "I don't need your help."

"Don't kid yourself, you needed my help last night," Charles argued, knowing he hit the nail on the head. "It's not just me you're walking away from. Here, you have the chance to be part of something much bigger than yourself." He knew that for all of Erik's steely expressions and desire to hold onto an anger that had its origins in the height of human cruelty, there was a part of him (small, mind you) that felt some sort of concern for others. That one statement got to him as nothing had so far. So now, all he had to do was put the icing on the proverbial cake. "I won't stop you," he said, backing away slowly. "I could, but I won't." And he turned and headed for the door, feeling as though he'd done his job splendidly. Just as he reached the door, something came to him and he cast it back over his shoulder without looking. "Shaw's got friends. You could do with some."

Then he entered the building, leaving Erik standing alone on the front walk in the darkness.

He wandered back to his room in a much better mood than the one in which he had left. He was quite confident of Erik's choice, but he would act surprised regardless so as not to unnerve him or seem boastful. His fear had been successfully eliminated from his mind, replaced with only a steely determination not to meddle in Ellie's mind unless she allowed it. And he had gotten a nice dose of clean, fresh air untainted by much industrial activity.

The only thing that still gnawed at him was what on Earth had possibly happened to the girl to deprave her so? Never, in all of their many years together, had she threatened him with so much vehemence. Never had she been pushed so far past the brink of madness.

He wanted to make it go away. He wanted to punish it, whatever the elusive _it _may be. Of course he would have wanted to, she was one of his very best friends and he loved her as such, but for reasons that escaped him he _needed _to see her happy again. And he desperately wanted to be the one to do it.

This idea was illogical. It made no sense. He did not understand the strange and nearly overwhelming urge to take her in his arms and quiet the distressed mind with his touch, his warmth. He did not understand the restlessness that came over him, increasing as he drew nearer to her room. He paused just outside the door, a hand poised to knock, and for a moment he was determined that when she opened that door he would sweep her off her feet and personally make certain that she would never be unhappy again.

He stretched out his awareness but did not intrude until he could again sense the emerald flare that was her mind to find it once again calm. Its energy swirled and drifted around in currents, and the sweet deliciousness of apples invaded his sense of taste. He stretched out a bit further to discover the source of her comfort that most definitely _not _him.

She was praying.

Suddenly, sensing the gravity and intimacy of the moment (though he didn't follow her beliefs himself), he wheeled and turned back down the hallway, speeding toward his own room to leave her in peace.

OxOxO

It had come to her so suddenly that she startled herself with its swiftness. The idea had descended from absolutely nowhere. Well, not really nowhere, just somewhere she couldn't see. She wondered why she hadn't thought of it in the first place. Probably because for about thirty minutes, she'd been certifiably insane. Yep, that would do it alright.

She took a deep, steadying breath and moved to kneel at the bedside, her hands clasped before her and her head bowed.

"Father, forgive me," she began with a voice that shook. "I know You gave me my incredible gifts for a reason, and I trust that reason as I trust You. You have a plan for me, Father, and I will do my best to follow it, to listen to Your Spirit when it speaks to me and to live by Your commandments. I have made a grave mistake. I know this by the burden on my heart at the memory. My animal instincts are still difficult to control, but I will not slip so completely again. You teach us that intimacy is meant for marriage and the creation of children, and I have misused that privilege. I won't make excuses for myself because I know that my mistake disappoints You, but I also know that You love me unconditionally and have forgiveness ready at hand if only I ask for it. So I am asking you now, forgive me, Father, and remove the burden of guilt from my soul. In Jesus's name, Amen."

Finishing the prayer, she sat back and breathed deeply, letting the nearness of the Lord comfort her. It was as if a warm hand had dropped gently onto her shoulder and soothed away her pain, self-loathing and guilt. He knew that she genuinely regretted what she'd done and He knew that her plea for forgiveness was heartfelt, and He loved her and that knowledge alone was enough to lift her spirits higher than they'd been in some time.

What had happened with Erik had been a mistake. A horrible, awkward, painful mistake that she would not be making again any time soon. She remembered little from the experience, but she remembered enough to know that he had not been gentle or loving. He'd taken what he wanted with a harsh, bestial fervor that rivaled her own. She didn't love him. She had desired him and she had given in, using the most beautiful and intimate of acts as casual entertainment. She'd also given away something that was both infinitely precious and unique. Something she could never give away again. With it went a piece of her heart. A piece that now resided in a man she neither loved nor was fond of. That, she thought, was the worst of it. She'd been hoping to one day give herself to Charles, but that hope was far-fetched and unrealistic. So, she'd told herself that she would give it to the man who loved her when he came along, whoever that may be. Now she would never be able to. Her virtue had slipped her grasp like a fragile butterfly, never to be recaptured.

The thought sent a sinking feeling into the pit of her stomach, but she swallowed her self-pity and vowed to move on with her life. God had forgiven her and so she must forgive herself.

She might have sat there for hours just lost in thought, but her eyes began to droop soon and her body nearly screamed, _Sleep girl, I'm tired!_ She was only too happy to oblige, sinking into the surprisingly soft bed with a contented sigh. She burrowed herself deep into the covers and buried her face in the pillow, already beginning to drift…

…into a soft, fluffy cloud…

…that was…just…so….

_Ellie? _

The cool voice in her head shattered her visions of sleep and fluffy clouds as her eyes popped open in surprise.

_Did I wake you? _the voice asked.

Trying to keep the grumbling to a minimum, she replied, _No, but a few more seconds and you would have. What is it, Charles? _

_Oh, I'm terribly sorry, my dear. Please, go back to sleep. I didn't mean to bother you. _Hmmm…Charles was being awfully strange. She sensed that he really didn't want to let her go back to sleep at all, yet he acted as if he'd done some great harm and should bow out as sweetly as possible. After the way they'd parted earlier she wasn't surprised that he was doing his best not to step on her toes.

_Too late for that. I'm wide awake now. What do you need, Charles? _

_This may come across as a bit of an odd request, and it is, but still I wondered if you could, I mean—would it be at all possible for you to—it's just that…ah. I'm not explaining myself very well, am I? _he projected to her, hesitant and almost fearful.

_Nope. I haven't got the slightest clue what you're talking about. Why don't you try again? This time, just tell me what you need, _she sent back to him, her mind voice laden with silent laughter.

_Alright then, I suppose I could give it a shot. _She sensed the smile in his voice, but nothing could have prepared her for what he said next. _I need you to come to me and spend the night like we used to. _

_Excuse me? _she exclaimed, probably just a little too abruptly, but the statement startled her. They hadn't done that in months. He used to call to her late at night to come and read with him or play a game of chess or simply chat for a while about the state of things, and she usually ended up sleeping next to him (which did nothing to alleviate her affections, by the way). But they hadn't done that in a while.

_I understand if you find the idea unpleasant. It's just that I find myself in sudden need of your company, _he said, disappointment oozing from every syllable. _Again, I'm terribly sorry to have bothered you at this late hour. _She felt him slipping away again, back to his own head dejectedly.

_Wait! _she shouted in her mind.

_Yes? _Was that hope she felt there?

_I'll come. You just startled me, that's all. _

He said nothing, but she got the fading impression of a relieved smile. Smiling herself, she shouldered her small bag and left the room. It took her a moment to find Charles's room and she entered without knocking. He knew she was there and if he hadn't wanted her in, he wouldn't have called. He was sitting cross-legged on the (considerably larger than her own) bed with his glasses perched on the end of his nose and some research paper in his hand.

His face split into a smile when he saw her shut the door and move to perch on the opposite end of the bed. She took out her own glasses and slid them onto her face with a comical expression.

"How about we read something a bit more interesting for a while. You can continue that when I'm fast asleep," she said, already digging in her bag for her latest obssession.

"Certainly, but first I want to ask you something," he replied softly. She froze. She knew he was going to ask eventually, but she'd hoped that she'd have more time to formulate an appropriate answer.

"Go ahead," she said, meeting his gaze steadily. She would answer truthfully and as fully as she dared. She had no fear of his questions or judgment.

"How did you manage to come back to yourself so quickly?" he asked, leaning forward as if to absorb her words through his mind. "You were past the point of madness when I passed your room, yet here you are as serene and clear as I have ever seen you. How did you do it?"

"God and I have come to an understanding," she said simply.

"I see." He didn't really see at all, but then again, he'd never really gotten religion like she did. Her face gave no room for further discussion. So instead he asked another question.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Ah, Charles," she said, giving him a coy smile and gazing up at him through her lashes as she moved closer. Before he had time to think her lips were pressed to his ear, her body so close that he could feel her unnatural heat. "If I told you that," she whispered, her breath ghosting over the delicate skin of his ears in such a way that he had to fight hard to suppress a shudder. "I'd have to kill you."

And she was gone, leaving Charles with the lingering sensation of her body pressed against his, her inhuman body temperature radiating into his very core, the absence of which left him reeling.

Ellie would have smiled had she believed that his reaction was anything other than utter shock and revulsion at her sudden proximity. However, she knew Charles much better than that and instead took out her book and began flipping pages. By the time Charles snapped out of his odd trance, she'd found her page and was waiting patiently for him to rejoin the land of the conscious. He blinked rapidly a few times and then sort of stared at her as if he's just seen her for the first time.

She already had her nose back in the book and was reading softly to herself, lounging back against the bedframe, perfectly at ease. If he was quite silent, he could just make out the words she was muttering.

"'Because', he said, 'I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you—especially when you are near me as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous Channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapt; and then I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you,-you'd forget me.'" The sweet melody of her voice was hypnotic and he felt himself beginning to get lost in it.

With the ease and comfort of an old friend who'd done so many times before, he leaned forward and gently took hold of her arm, drawing her closer as she read until she was snuggled firmly against his side. He nearly missed the almost imperceptible stiffening of her body and the falter of her voice, but before he could even think about it she'd relaxed and rolled on as if nothing had happened. Curious, he reached out, wanting—no, needing—to know what had distressed her. Was it him? Was she not comfortable being this close anymore? As lightly as he could, he brushed the surface of her mind and tried to minimize his presence.

Swiftly she cringed away from his touch and firmly shut him out with a wall as solid as concrete. Damn, she was so attuned to his mental signature that there was no way for him to get in without her knowing. What was in there that she didn't want him to see? She'd been oddly secretive lately and he was dying to know why. Ah well, he would get it out of her one way or another eventually.

Putting her reaction away for later consideration, he wrapped an arm around her waist, settle back against the pillows and turned his attention to the feel of her skin against his and the musical way in which she read.

'_"I tell you I must go!" I retorted, roused to something like passion. "Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you? Do you think I am an automaton?-a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!-I have as much soul as you,-and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;-it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal,-as we are!" _

_"As we are!" repeated Mr. Rochester-"so," he added, enclosing me in his arms. Gathering me to his breast, pressing his lips on my lips: "so, Jane!" _

_"Yes, so, sir," I rejoined: "and yet not so; for you are a married man-or as good as a married man, and wed to one inferior to you-to one with whom you have no sympathy-whom I do not believe you truly love; for I have seen and heard you sneer at her. I would scorn such a union: therefore I am better than you-let me go!" _

_"Where, Jane? To Ireland?" _

_"Yes-to Ireland. I have spoken my mind, and can go anywhere now." _

_"Jane, be still; don't struggle so, like a wild frantic bird that is rending its own plumage in its desperation." _

_"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will, which I now exert to leave you." _

_Another effort set me at liberty, and I stood erect before him. _

_"And your will shall decide your destiny," he said: "I offer you my hand, my heart, and a share of all my possessions." _

_"You play a farce, which I merely laugh at."'_

Charles felt the emotion radiate from her voice, as if Ellie were Jane speaking to the man she loved. But if Ellie were Jane, who then was her Rochester?

'_"Do you doubt me, Jane?" _

_"Entirely." _

_"You have no faith in me?" _

_"Not a whit." _

_"Am I a liar in your eyes?" he asked passionately. "Little sceptic, you SHALL be convinced. What love have I for Miss Ingram? None: and that you know. What love has she for me? None: as I have taken pains to prove: I caused a rumour to reach her that my fortune was not a third of what was supposed, and after that I presented myself to see the result; it was coldness both from her and her mother. I would not-I could not-marry Miss Ingram. You- you strange, you almost unearthly thing!-I love as my own flesh. You-poor and obscure, and small and plain as you are-I entreat to accept me as a husband." _

_"What, me!" I ejaculated, beginning in his earnestness-and especially in his incivility-to credit his sincerity: "me who have not a friend in the world but you- if you are my friend: not a shilling but what you have given me?" _

_"You, Jane, I must have you for my own-entirely my own. Will you be mine? Say yes, quickly." _

_"Mr. Rochester, let me look at your face: turn to the moonlight." _

_"Why?" _

_"Because I want to read your countenance-turn!" _

_"There! you will find it scarcely more legible than a crumpled, scratched page. Read on: only make haste, for I suffer." _

_His face was very much agitated and very much flushed, and there were strong workings in the features, and strange gleams in the eyes _

_"Oh, Jane, you torture me!" he exclaimed. "With that searching and yet faithful and generous look, you torture me!" _

_"How can I do that? If you are true, and your offer real, my only feelings to you must be gratitude and devotion-they cannot torture." _

_"Gratitude!" he ejaculated; and added wildly-"Jane accept me quickly. Say, Edward-give me my name-Edward-I will marry you." _

_"Are you in earnest? Do you truly love me? Do you sincerely wish me to be your wife?" _

_"I do; and if an oath is necessary to satisfy you, I swear it." _

_"Then, sir, I will marry you." _

_"Edward-my little wife!" _

_"Dear Edward!" _

_"Come to me-come to me entirely now…'_

**Now, I did not use that large excerpt just because 'I'm lazy and didn't feel like writing', I put it in because I started reading that book and the love was just to intimate, so passionate that I absolutely loved it and thought it would be neat if Ellie loved it as much as I do. So, kudos if you can guess the name even though I sort of gave it away already. **

**Anyhow, as usual, forgive my timing (I just joined a fraternity-not a sorority) and reviews are love. I live on love. **


	10. Do TRex's Play Golf?

She was warm. So deliciously, delightfully warm. Something soft yet firm enveloped her like a lover's embrace, steady and tender and welcoming. She couldn't remember a time when she'd felt this good, this at ease with the world. No wait, that was a lie. She felt this way every morning when she woke up in the arms of her best friend. After she read to him or read with him long into the deep hours of the night and fell asleep as far from him as she could manage yet somehow always found herself encircled by his quiet strength.

And there was the second part to all of that fluffiness. The cold disappointment when she realized that the closeness meant nothing. The hollow ache somewhere behind her ribs that reminded her not to get too comfortable. He would wake soon, see her so close to him and retreat as if she'd suddenly developed a deadly plague. Better she leave now before he could.

Ellie opened her eyes slowly and stared into the crisp, white fabric of one of Charles's "casual" shirts. He liked to call them casual, but like the rest it was button-down and religiously starched to retain its dapper…ness. Ellie nearly laughed, but thought better of it. He was such a light sleeper. She took a deep breath through her nose, drinking in and memorizing his scent, clean and cool like an ancient pine forest at midnight. Letting that breath out with a discontented sigh, she rolled over gently and began making her way to the edge of the bed. One foot had just touched the floor when an arm caught her around the middle and yanked her unceremoniously backward, her head smacking into something soft that let out a disgruntled "Oof!"

With the raspy and breathless way that Charles said, "Where do you think you're going so early, love?" Ellie knew that shed landed on his stomach. Served him right for grabbing her like that and calling her love in that husky English accent when she knew it was just one of those things that delightfully beautiful Englishmen say. Heat flushed to her face and her body quickened with a fire that both exhilarated and terrified her.

"I _know _that I'm going hunting," she said, half snappish, half laughing and wriggling her way to freedom. "I'm starving, and I feel like eating something…fresh," she purred with a devilish grin and a predatory spark in her leafy green eyes. As she stooped to retrieve her bag and book from the floor, she heard Charles rise and adjust his clothing.

"Well why don't I walk with you?" he said, sliding his jacket on and coming to stand next to her. "I'm just about to be summoned anyway. I figure I should get a head start and meet with him early."

"Meet with who?" Ellie asked, her brows furrowed with confusion and her bag on her shoulder, poised to walk out the door.

"Why, Mr. Broadmoore of course," Charles said with a cheeky grin, presenting his elbow for her to take which she did and the two of them set off down the hallway toward the front door.

"So that's his name?" Ellie ran her free fingers through her thick hair, freeing the bedhead tangles and attempting to make herself look presentable. She and Charles were both still wearing the clothes they'd been wearing for a couple of days now, but it wasn't as if they had anything to change into. She'd have to do laundry later this evening. If only she knew where the laundry room was…

"Mmm," Charles murmured his affirmation.

"At least now we can stop calling him 'the man'. Are we ever going to get any new clothes? All of our stuff is in Westchester still, and what we're wearing is starting to get a little ripe," she said, crinkling her nose and tugging at the collar of his shirt for emphasis.

"I think so. We'll have to do a little shopping after whatever meeting this is I'm being called for," he replied, ruffling her hair that she had just meticulously arranged. What was with him this morning? Not to mention last night.

"Charles, you're being weirdly affectionate today and yesterday evening. I thought you were British?"

"I am British. What does that have to do with being affectionate?" he asked, looking sideways at her with those marvelous eyes of his.

"Everyone knows that Brits don't like touching people. They're not very affectionate types," she said, fixing her hair back.

"And I suppose that you're an expert on Brits now?" His eyes sparkled with mirth as he turned them on her, momentarily halting her ability to breathe.

"Well, I have lived with one for thirteen years. I wouldn't exactly say expert, but I would say that I've studied him close enough to know his habits," she quipped, training her sights on the approaching door.

"Wait a minute," Charles halted, looking surprised. "Studied—what do you mean—how close?" he practically begged.

Ellie only smiled and slid out of his grasp and out the door, leaving Charles with the lingering echo of her laughter.

The woman was certainly a mystery, Charles thought, shaking his head as he turned and made his way to Mr. Broadmoore's office. The man wanted to discuss a new technology with him, designed and built by Hank of course. From what he already knew of it, the design was incredibly complex and relied on brainwaves from a highly intelligent subject to work. In other words, it required Charles. He spent the next few minutes before his arrival picking out every detail about the machine that he could find. He only grew more and more impressed as he went. Hank certainly was a genius.

In essence, the thing was a magnifying glass for the minds of telepathic mutations. It amplified brain waves and thoughts so that one person, one telepath, could connect with the minds of thousands—no, millions!—of people all over the world at one given time. And this was only a prototype! Imagine the possibilities when Hank had applied even more of his brain power to the advancement of the versatility of the machine! They were truly endless. Before he had finished, Charles may well be able to actually communicate with or, God forbid, influence those millions of people at once, with the limitation of distance eradicated completely. He would be able to identify and pull information from whomever he wished, whenever he wished and all it would take would be to stand inside a small room with a sensor on his head and think.

By the time Charles stopped beside the doorway to the office, he was grinning from ear to ear with excitement.

Mr. Broadmoore was picking up the phone, about to dial his room number when he knocked softly, making the man jump. In the next second, the door opened and he said "I was just about to call you." with a confused air.

"I know," Charles replied, tapping a finger to his temple and stepping inside. "You want to talk to me about this new machine of Hank's."

"Well, yes, but how did you—"

"Do you really need to ask Mr. Broadmoore?" Charles sat down in one of the chairs arranged just so on the other side of his desk and crossed his legs and folded his fingers politely. At his suggestion, the man seemed to regain some semblance of composure and took his own seat across from Charles. "No, I guess I don't," he said with a smile.

"Excellent, so tell me about this incredible new device." Charles turned his gaze to the large window to his right where he got a lovely view of a large round object vaguely resembling a T-Rex's golf ball. Complete with tee.

"Hank turned that radar installation into a transmitter," Mr. Broadmoore said. "It's designed to amplify brainwaves, so it could enhance your telepathic powers, help us find other mutants for our division."

"What if they don't want to be found by you?" a deep, familiar voice sounded from the doorway to the office, and one Charles had not been expecting to hear.

Sure enough, Erik Lehnsherr was standing just over the threshold, a look of utter contempt written plainly on his face.

"Erik," Charles addressed him, drawing Erik's quick and grudging glance that clearly said 'I'm not here because of you, got it?'. Charles couldn't help but smile anyway. "You decided to stay." The man would be a powerful asset to whatever it was this odd CIA division was planning. Not to mention the fact that Charles was growing rather fond of him or the ever-present urge to fix whatever damage had been done to his brain at such a young age.

Erik ignored him, instead turning his cold gray eyes on Mr. Broadmoore, the threat of death shining clear in their depths. "If a new species is being discovered, it should be by its own kind. Charles and I find the mutants, no suits." His body language allowed for no arguments.

But humans are stupid and arrogant, Mr. Broadmoore being no different. "First of all, that's my machine out there," he argued. _Um, no, that's actually Hank's machine. _"Second all, and much more importantly, this is Charles's decision. Charles is fine with the CIA being involved." The man looked at Charles as if expecting back up, but Charles was focused in on Erik's steel encased mind, his brows furrowed and his eyes searching things that everyday humans could not see.

After a moment of thought laden silence, Charles turned back to Mr. Broadmoore and said, "No. I'm sorry, but I'm with Erik. We'll find them alone." Gunmetal gray met crystalline blue for just a moment, two dominant males in total agreement for once before Erik looked away.

But of course, that wasn't the end of it. "What if I say no?" Mr. Broadmoore asked, still laboring under the delusion that he was in charge here. How adorable.

Charles had to stop himself from laughing and instead looked over with his eyebrows raised and said, "Then good luck using your installation without me."

And that was the end of it.

OxOxO

Deep in the forest that ringed the facility, Ellie lifted her shining scarlet muzzle and howled a swift prayer of thanks for the lives of the three rabbits whose remains still lay at her feet. She swiped a tongue over her teeth and fur, cleaning off most of the gore and blood before burying the bones respectfully and setting off back toward the well-manicured lawn where Charles and Raven were waiting for her. Something exciting was about to happen, she could feel it in the tips of her silvery paws.

_I've brought a change of clothes for you. We've just done a little shopping and I quite believe that you won't be able to wear those again. We don't want to frighten anyone, _Charles's voice echoed around in her head as she stepped out of the tree line, gazing up at him through wolf's eyes, blood dripping lazily from the tip of her cute little nose. A brief image of him standing-dapper and lovely as usual in a new navy suit-at the edge of the woods, dangling an expensive looking bag enticingly flashed in front of her mind vision.

Damn, and that was why she never let Charles go shopping for her. He always managed to sniff out the most expensive things for her, tossing money around as if she were some sort of charity case. She actually had a whole second closet full of the things Charles had bought for her that she never wore. Leave it to him to take advantage of their need for something clean to wear. Damn him. Damn that Charles.

With a low growl Ellie turned and trotted back the way she came. Within moments she had emerged from the tree line and found herself nose to midriff with Charles. In a fit of spite, she reared up and licked him from perfect chin to perfect hairline.

_That's for treating me like some homeless vagrant who lives off of the good graces of others. _

"Well, I suppose I deserve that," he managed to squeeze between his scrunched up lips on his scrunched up face that was now dripping with pink wolf saliva. Ellie glanced at Raven as the blond approached and winked (not an easy feat when you're a wolf), gently taking the handles of the shopping bag in her teeth and trotting back into the woods to wash in the little stream just inside.

Charles wiped his face with a towel he just happened to have in his bag and he and Raven waited patiently for a few moments until Ellie emerged once again, this time in (a rather stunning-Charles had to admit) human form. Her new leather pants and red jacket clung lightly to her curves and the silvery boots made her legs look a mile long. Charles caught himself before his staring became too obvious.

"I hope you're not expecting a thank you," Ellie said, her eyes glinting and one hand perched on her hip imperiously.

"Ah, no," Charles said with a funny look on his face. "I think I've had enough out of you for one day. Let's get going shall we? Hank has something rather exciting he wants to show us." And he turned and began walking toward the back of the facility.

Ellie threaded her arm through Raven's and whispered, "And we all know that exciting to Charles is bored-to-death to the rest of the universe."

Raven's laugh was music to her ears. She hadn't heard that sound in what seemed like forever. This ridiculous situation they had been thrust into had sapped most of the humor from their lives, and hearing it now from Raven, as if nothing had ever happened, gave Ellie the tiny shred of hope she'd needed. Despair had begun to set in like an ice coated brick in her chest, weighing her down freezing out the memory of the Ellie that had been before all of this government, mutant insanity had arrived at their doorstep like an unwanted cousin. But a laugh, something so simple and innocent in itself, helped bring her back to herself. At least for a little while longer.

The trio rounded the corner of the great, squat stone building to a sight that was by far the queerest thing she had seen thus far. It loomed out at them, mocking them with its odd defiance of normalcy and its obvious desire to be weird. How dare it stand there so imposingly, looking all important? She'd show it important. Huh.

It was like a giant, hairy golf ball that at Tyrannosaurus might have used. Complete with tee. It was just a massive ball on a massive black peg, and yet, she could smell Charles' spike in excitement from her position several feet behind him. And he was upwind!

The ball was made of lots of triangular white panels with little antennae sticking out all over the place (hence the hairiness). The closer they got, the more obvious it became that that was about it. It was just a large ball. With lots of tiny hairy things. And a big black peg. Nothing really changed or made the ball any more impressive as they neared.

Except maybe the smell. It smelled of metal (big surprise) and Hank, but something else too. It was so hard to place; it was almost like more of a sensation than a scent. It gave her the impression of vastness, of eternity and of possibilities. She hadn't realized she'd stopped until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Charles was peering into her face with those shards of sky and for a moment it was as if that scent was prodding her, pushing her forward as eternity and possibilities flashed behind her eyes. So much could happen, could be hers if she just leaned forward a little more…

Quick as a flash, and before she could lose anymore of her sanity, she grew a claw and stabbed herself with it. The pain jolted her out of her trance and plopped her back down into reality so hard that her eyes began to throb. Outwardly she gave no sign of pain or distress, plastering her best fake smile on and saying cheerfully, "Shall we?" before yanking open the little door at the base of the tee and beginning to climb the narrow, spiral staircase toward the inside of the weird, hairy golf ball.

She did her best not to think about what had just happened or the fact that she'd come _THIS CLOSE _to kissing him and giving herself away and ruining what relationship they did have or the fact that she could smell his confusion and practically hear the thoughts running through his head. She did her best not to think about the scent of the ball, so odd and vague and unfathomable, and yet possibly one of the most delicious scents she'd ever smelled, for the sole reason that for an instant her dreams had been right there in her grasp. All she had to do was reach out and take them. She tried so hard not to think about it, but in truth she was drinking it in like fine wine.

In truth, she failed.

**WOW! It has been, like, a million years since my last update! I must say first of all how incredibly sorry I am for that, and second how sorry I am that this is such a short chapter. I was really impatient and I had to get it out there for yall before yall went nuts with anticipation! The next one will be longer and quicker as the semester has now ended and I'll have a bit more time on my hands. Also, I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and if you don't hear from me before then, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Whatever! And Happy New Year! **

**As always, I live off of your reviews! Please let me know what you think! **


	11. Battered House

**I shall try to start updating a bit quicker from now on. I've gotten back on my X-Men kick and am rarin and ready to go! **

All in all, Ellie was decidedly NOT impressed. The giant hairy dinosaur golf ball looked on the inside quite exactly like she thought it would. It was boring. It was filled with odd blinky buttons and lights and strange wires. It was overpowering her sensitive nostrils with its stench of metal and man. She wasn't even fazed by the odd little floor panels that lifted slowly to allow them access like a futuristic trap door. There were no illuminating lights inside for the walls seemed to be oddly opaque, letting in enough light to make seeing a nonissue, but not so much that it hurt their eyes. Even though the entire thing sort of hurt Ellie's eyes with its blatant use of modern technology. Anthropologists did not do well with technology. Particularly when those anthropologists happened to be part beast.

Of course, Charles' adrenaline had spiked the second he'd seen the trap door start to open. This for him was better than candy. And almost nothing was better than candy. Right?

The sphere was also much smaller on the inside than it looked from the outside. Ellie began to feel rather claustrophobic. She was channeling impala today and they preferred the savannah. You know, miles of open grassland, umbrella thorn acacia as far as the eye could see. Well, anyway…

Hank was there, approaching them from around some sort of small blue dais in the center of the ball, complete with railing. Above it hung a rather odd contraption made of a transparent upside down bowl, lots of lights and even more tuby looking things. It was actually quite frightening to Ellie. And of course, standing somewhere off to the side of Hank was the one mutant she could have gone her entire life without seeing again.

She didn't want to-really, she didn't!-but she somehow managed to catch Erik's eye anyway and was effectively shocked at what she found there. In that gaze she found concern and, wait-no, it couldn't possibly…

But there it was, plain as the scar on her face. In that gaze she saw an apology. His eyes were practically begging her to forgive him. They asked if she would mind talking later, and she nodded once, imperceptibly. God forgave, right? Why shouldn't she?

Hank chose that moment to speak, and Ellie forced herself to listen even though she had absolutely no interest in him or his words whatsoever.

"Ah, I call it Cerebro," he began tentatively, and Ellie rolled her eyes as Charles laughed excitedly. He was having way too much fun with this.

"As in the Spanish for brain?" Charles asked. What a clever name! And what a clever machine too! He could practically feel himself hopping out of his skin! He glanced at Ellie who merely rolled her eyes again, and then at Raven who's eyes danced but not for him. She was focused on the lanky young genius who'd designed all this.

"Ok, so the electrodes connect Charles to the transmitter on the roof," Hank continued, grinning broadly at Charles' obvious interest in his work. He motioned to the device in the center as he spoke, and suddenly the design made sense. It was a helmet with an array of little sensors that all hooked up to several machines at the side of the room opposite them. Charles practically leapt onto the edge of the little platform to peer at the myriad of brilliant little devices. Blue light from above and below illuminated him, making him shine like Christmas in July. This time when he glanced at Ellie, she was grinning too, excited because he was excited.

_Having fun? _She asked him.

_More than you can imagine,_ he answered, his mind-voice sounding oddly breathless.

_Oh, I have a pretty big imagination, _Ellie quipped. Charles only smiled.

"When he picks up a-ahem-mutant, his brain sends a signal through a relay and then the coordinates of their location are printed out here," Hank explained as he moved around the room to motion to a slightly smaller box near the end of the line. Erik and Raven eyed it with both fascination and confusion. Charles loved Raven and Erik was obviously very bright, but this was just over their heads. At least Raven pretended to be interested for Hank's sake.

"You designed this?" Charles heard her ask as he continued to gaze, enraptured at the receptor in the middle of the sphere. He ran his fingers over his scalp as he tried to fit it all into place. How utterly, magnificently brilliant! Never in a million years would he have been able to create something like this, and not matter how much he stared, he couldn't for the life of him figure out how it worked! But that in itself was part of the beauty of the thing. It was so completely beyond him, and that only made it all the more intriguing.

Feeling he had waited long enough, Charles stepped onto the dais and grabbed the receptor, lowering it down onto his head and winking at Ellie as she eyed the contraption warily. Then, he situated his hands behind his back and waited patiently for Hank to finish making adjustments.

"What an adorable lab rat you make, Charles," sounded a deep voice to his left. Erik came round to stand between him and Ellie, a smirk on that steely face of his. Charles's composure never wavered.

"Don't spoil this for me, Erik," he said coolly, ignoring the smug satisfaction on Erik's face.

"I've been a lab rat," Erik pricked. "I know one when I see one."

"Ok," Hank mumbled, half to himself, effectively cutting off what Charles was sure would have become a rousing debate on the definition of lab rat (Charles figured that he did it on purpose). "Great." He stepped up onto the platform and twisted a few knobs on the helmet before asking, "Are you sure we can't shave your head?"

"Don't touch my hair."

Ellie laughed and thought, _You and that hair. _

Charles would have replied, but Hank chose that moment to flip the final switches and turn the universe upside down.

In a brilliant flash of white light, eternity opened up to him and he had to grab the railing to steady himself, unable to stifle a gasp of surprise. His eyes opened wide, but suddenly he wasn't there anymore.

He was everywhere.

Ellie felt a stab of fear as the helmet lit up stark white, casting an odd glow on its subject. His hands jerked out to grab the railing and he made a sound as if he were in pain. His heart rate had jumped and his breathing was beginning to quicken. The needles on the machine nearest Hank began to wiggle and twitch and he turned to them excitedly and exclaimed, "It's working!"

And Charles began to laugh. She stood directly in front of him, peering into his eyes but he was no longer looking at her. She didn't think he was really even there anymore. He laughed whole heartedly, a magical sound Ellie hadn't heard in the longest time and she found herself laughing too.

OxOxO

A while later Ellie lay sprawled on the closely manicured lawn of the courtyard, glasses on and a sheaf of paper in her hands. Just because their lives had done a one eighty didn't mean that all responsibility ceased to exist did it? As much as Ellie would have liked to believe that was true, she still had work to do, and laying about all day while she waited for someone to make a move on Shaw or Shaw to make a move on them would drive her insane. Literally, insane. So, she'd dug her latest research paper out of her bag and settled down in the courtyard with as many snacks as she could wrap her arms around, a blanket, a pillow and a case of her favorite soda.

Pepsi. Yum!

All in all, she was having one pleasant afternoon. Especially since she'd left Charles' incessant babbling far behind. He'd been wandering around since being disconnected from that machine and talking the ears off of anyone who would stand still long enough for him to get started. After about an hour Ellie had had quite enough. He hadn't been able to find her yet and lucky for her she could smell him coming a mile away. There wasn't even a contest really.

Smiling at her own cleverness, Ellie popped the top on another Pepsi and crossed out a few words that were beginning to irk her.

And there she stayed until the light became too weak to read by, so she packed up and made her way into the common room feeling more relaxed than she had in ages. Even the crick in her hip wasn't bothering her quite so much. She arrived to find Charles and Erik deep in conversation on one of the black leather couches. Charles waved as she came in and sat down across from him, never breaking his conversation. Or concentration? Regardless, he continued speaking and Ellie waited her turn.

"Yes, the young man in prison seems promising enough. We'll have to teach him some control though. I think we should get going immediately," he was saying.

"Where are we going?" Ellie asked, unable to help herself. She adored travel.

Charles suddenly looked uneasy and he wouldn't meet her eyes. "Ah, well my dear, I'm afraid that, uh, it's just going to be Erik and I this time," he said hesitantly. When he finally looked at her he was practically begging her to understand.

Her face, just moments ago lit up with excitement, fell. "But I always go with you," she mumbled dejectedly.

Charles sighed. "I know love, but I need you here to keep an eye on things. We can safely assume that with two of us gone, Shaw will take this opportunity to move in. I need you here to protect them."

"Them who? It's just me, Raven and a couple of idiots," Ellie snapped.

"We'll be bringing some young men and women back with us, and it'll be up to you to keep them safe."

Ellie hated to admit that it was a rather important job. "But why can't Erik stay here and watch them? I'm sure he's much more capable than I am." She also pointedly ignored the smug little grin the metalbender flashed her way.

"Well, you see, I need someone along who's good at persuasion. The peaceful kind," Charles said, giving her a pointed look. "Besides, male bonding and whatnot."

"Fine," Ellie stood, flipping back her fiery hair and stalking out of the room in a huff. "I can take a hint. Go bond and have fun without me." She continued to mumble to herself all the way back outside. "That smug little…I _always _go…I can't believe I'm going to be stuck here with these idiots…."

She was still fuming an hour later when Erik found her in her room, her nose firmly stuck in her favorite book, Jane Eyre. He didn't ask to come in, or even make his presence known. He knew that she knew he was there. He simply walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for her to speak. He didn't have to wait long.

"You have some nerve coming in here like this, Mr. Lensherr."

"I was under the impression that you'd agreed to talk with me for a while."

"So I had." Ellie marked her page carefully and set the book aside, sitting up cross-legged and fixing him with those two bright emeralds in the middle of her face. "Speak," she commanded, lifting her chin and looking every bit the role of regal queen of old.

"Alright, I apologize for what happened the night before. It wasn't meant to be that way," he said quietly.

"Wasn't meant to be what way? Painful, invasive, cruel? You used me Lensherr. You stole something from me that I will never get back."

"Now wait just a moment," he said, leaning forward and waving a pointed finger in her face. "I stole nothing. You gave willingly and as I recall, you had no intention of being gentle yourself." He lifted the sleeve of his black turtleneck, revealing a multitude of purplish bruises and long, thin claw marks.

Ellie's head dropped forward and she covered her mouth with both hands. It was worse than she'd thought. "Oh, Erik, I'm so sorry. I had no idea what would happen. Ignorance is no excuse for such a heinous act."

Cool fingers lifted her chin and forced emerald eyes to meet steel. "Don't apologize. Your ability is almost impossible to control when aroused. I understand. Besides," he leaned even closer and grinned a naughty grin. "I like it a bit rough sometimes."

"And that is quite enough of that!" Ellie cried, swatting his hand away and sending him a playfully reproachful look. "Apology accepted, by the way."

"Thank you," he said with a smile.

In the instant after a companionable silence fell between the two, Erik leaned over to plant a gentle kiss to the scar on her cheek. He pulled away to look her in the eye and she felt the jagged white line warm as if lit from within by a softly glowing ember. For a moment, with the way his eyes seemed to dance for her and the way the entire right side of her face felt warm and whole, she felt beautiful.

His fingers threaded through her auburn hair as he reached up to sweetly cup the nape of her neck and she closed her eyes as Erik leaned forward again.

She didn't start and she didn't hesitate when his lips ever so softly brushed hers, like a gossamer feather. Her hand found his waist and rested there as she pulled him closer, slowly, tenderly deepening the kiss.

And that was the way it stayed. He didn't press, he didn't pry and he didn't try to take it any further than where she wanted to go. He let her take control and simply followed suit.

Soon, Ellie's entire body was warm and sparkling with benign energy just like her scar. When he finally pulled away just far enough to press their foreheads together, she was flushed and practically glowing with so many emotions and sensations that had since been alien to her. And all of them were excellent.

"Why didn't it happen this way the first time?" he whispered.

Ellie only shrugged. "Apology accepted, now let's move on."

"Agreed."

"So you and Charles are leaving at first light then?" she asked.

"Yes. We'll be away for a few days."

"Well, both of you be careful," she said sternly, giving him a proper 'mom' look.

"Yes ma'am," he said with a wink. "I should probably get some sleep."

"That's a good idea."

And he quietly got up and left the room.

Ellie laid back down and covered up, trying to ignore the tiny seed of unease beginning to blossom in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't as if she were betraying Charles. You can't cheat on someone who doesn't even know you love them. Besides, maybe Erik could help her get over him and get on with her life.

Despite her doubts, Ellie went to bed feeling lighter, happier and better about herself than she had in a long, long time.

XoXoX

Something rather odd had just happened. Charles had been in his room packing when all of a sudden, a rather metallic taste of apples overloaded his senses and emerald clouded his vision for a moment. It was Ellie, and she was happier than he had ever felt her before. He found himself smiling with the sheer force of the emotion and even whistled a brisk little tune as he put away his things and prepared for bed. He didn't bother to find out just what had made her that way, just as he didn't bother to wonder why her flavor had contained the odd tang of metal for a moment. He went to sleep with a blissfully ignorant smile on his face, one he wouldn't really think about until several weeks later when all hell broke loose and it became time for him to make a very important decision.

OxOxO

The next morning, Ellie and Raven waved goodbye to the two men and wished them luck as their glossy black car disappeared around the corner.

Suddenly, all was silent. The girls lowered their hands and stood there. And stood some more…

…and some more…

…and looked at each other…

…and realized that with the guys gone, there was absolutely nothing to do.

Hank was busy in his giant hairy golf ball thing and had asked not to be disturbed. Mr. Broadmoore had disappeared into his office to do…something and Moira was probably off sulking because Charles hadn't gotten down on one knee and asked her to accompany him. Which left Ellie and Raven standing in the middle of the driveway doing nothing.

After a moment, Raven turned and went back inside. Ellie shrugged to no one in particular and went for a good run. She hunted a bit, swam in the little stream a bit, flew a bit and sang a bit. By the time she returned to the facility, she had managed to kill the rest of the morning and a bit of the afternoon so she set about doing laundry. She managed to sniff everything out that she needed and by the time _that _was done, it was time for bed.

The next few days followed much the same pattern. She would kill time playing games with Raven in the common room or she would go out for a while, then she would come in and do some work and then she would sleep. The next day, rinse and repeat.

The first time the boys came back, they smelled heavily of smoke and about a thousand different kinds of cheap perfume. Ellie and her poor sensitive animal nose just about choked to death. She choked even more when she saw the lovely _stripper _they had brought home with them. Yes, stripper. The little thing tried to look down her nose and sneer at Ellie and it might have worked to if Ellie hadn't been about a good six inches taller.

Fine, Ellie thought. Let her sneer and act as if she's better than me. She's an insect and if she tries anything, I'll squish her like one.

And then, just as soon as they had come, they boys were gone again and the cycle continued.

The next time they returned they brought home a tall, lanky black man with large eyes and a kind disposition. Darwin, he was called. He was funny and chivalrous and Ellie found him refreshing. She and Raven formed an easy friendship with him, a relationship that made the endless days spent lounging about a bit more bearable.

The next time the boys came home empty handed and more than a little disenchanted about the mutant they'd found.

"He had the biggest mutton chops I've ever seen," Charles said incredulously. "He was huge and powerful and obviously not too friendly. His mind felt a lot like yours does, Ellie. His name was James, I believe."

And then they were gone again.

About a week later they brought home an awkward young man who, within the first few minutes of setting foot in the building began to rub her the wrong way. He had a horrid carrot top and matching complexion. He thought he was truly hilarious but in reality his lame attempts at joking made her feel quite nauseous. In fact, she could barely stomach his presence for more than an hour.

The final addition to their ridiculous little band made her feel somewhat better. He was young, tall and broad-chested with close cropped hair and a don't-mess-with-me look that matched his attitude. Ellie caught him eyeing her more than once and returned the appreciation readily. She learned that his name was Alex Summers and he'd been in prison for a few years for a power he couldn't control. She felt she could relate to that. Charles was the only thing that had stood between her and the stony lonesome on more than one occasion.

And that was the day they came home for good.

The group had taken to gathering during the daytime in the common room to play pinball, sip sodas and socialize. Ellie only accompanied them because it was her duty. She couldn't exactly "protect" them while she was roaming about on her own could she? Though there were a few things she would much rather have been doing. Like, smashing her head against a wall perhaps? Anything-ANYTHING-was better than listening to Sean try to impress Angel and Raven (he'd given up trying to impress Ellie the first time she'd given him a black eye). Even Hank emerged from his cave more often to sit with them. He, Darwin and Raven were the only things keeping her tethered to the world of the sane.

Alex had been settled in and Ellie had spotted Charles walking across the courtyard with Erik and Moira. She leapt to her feet, the dusty film of boredom that had settled over her shaking free as she strode toward him with every intention of giving him a monstrous hug. Before she could even reach the door, however, he held up a hand and projected, _No._

The simple word stung her as if he'd slapped her and she recoiled from the sharpness of it. He didn't even look in her direction or even hesitate in his secret conversation but kept on walking as if nothing had happened.

Shocked, she turned and walked back over to one of the black leather chairs and plopped down, dropping her head onto one hand and staring at the floor. The children were laughing and pricking with each other, arguing over what code names they should give themselves. Each in turn stood and revealed their mutations, earning enthusiastic oohs and ahs from the others.

Ellie watched without really seeing. She was much too busy sulking to pay any attention.

Angel grew bug wings and spat acidic fireballs like some sort of alien freak. Darwin could adapt his body to survive any environment and Sean could shriek and shatter glass. Ellie really couldn't care less what names they gave themselves as long as they didn't pick on her to play show and tell.

Unfortunately, this was not her lucky day.

"Come on, Elle!" Raven pleaded, ignoring the smoldering glare her whining got her. "Please! You're so creative, I want to hear what name you come up with!"

Grumbling to herself about the annoyance of youth, she limped to the center of the room and flipped back her thick curtain of hair.

"I suppose I'll be…" She tapped a finger to her chin and thought while trying to pretend that she wasn't beginning to enjoy herself. "…Feral."

"Perfect!" Raven cried. "Now show them why."

Now Ellie wasn't even pretending to not have fun. With a sideways smile and a dangerous glimmer in her eyes she concentrated…

…and melted smoothly into the sleek body of a black jaguar.

For a moment the room was frozen, then all at once six teenagers all began shouting with amazement and a little fear. Angel leapt to her feet with her hands over her mouth and Alex reached out to stroke her fur. She looked over at Raven who was smiling appreciatively and melted again, this time into the form of a hawk.

"Incredible!" Hank breathed, peering at her with eyes wide as dinner plates. Ellie flapped up to land on his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek with the top her head. Then she fluttered back to her chair and morphed back to normal.

"That's amazing!" said Angel (Ellie supposed she couldn't be all bad).

"Wicked," Alex said, nodding his head and looking rather impressed.

She glanced around at the rest of them and found identical looks of awe and a hint of fear on each of their faces. Ok, it wasn't that incredible. It was just a mutation.

"Ok, um, next!" she said, rubbing the back of her neck as her face began to heat up. Contrary to popular belief, she really didn't like _all_ of that attention. Don't get her wrong, she loved to be noticed as much as the next girl, but the way they were all looking at her as if she were some sort of deity come to Earth made her uneasy. She didn't deserve all of that praise, and she certainly was no deity.

"Alex, Alex, Alex!" She laughed as the others chanted, trying to pressure the young man into showing them what he could do. He relented, though he didn't look happy about it.

"Get back when I tell you," he grumbled and the group moved to sort of stand behind the wall, though Ellie really couldn't see the effectiveness of this as they were stacked out so far trying to see what was going on.

"Get back," Alex said (looking quite stellar in that white t shirt and black leather jacket) and they moved behind the wall…only to move right back again so they could see. "Get back!" he growled again, but this time no one moved. "Whatever," he grumbled as he started to make a motion like he was hula hooping. Red rings of solid energy surged into being around his body and he expelled them outward where they went flying in all directions, shearing the nice metal statue that Angel had earlier demonstrated on in half. Ellie didn't think she'd ever seen an ability with quite so much destructive potential or a mutant with quite so little control, including herself. Her mouth hung open and her eyes stretched wide as she thought, he's even worse at his power than I am. It's as if he has no control of them at all, as if _they _control _him._

She clapped her hands as he stepped back inside the window Sean had shattered and the rest of the group whooped their appreciation.

Darwin seemed to think congratulations were in order and procured a round of sodas from the fridge and turned up some lively music and began to dance. Soon Ellie and the rest of them followed suit, forgetting for a while the dark apprehension that was hanging over them about the inevitable showdown. She danced and laughed and they danced and laughed, letting go and just having a grand ole time being kids for a bit longer. Ellie didn't keep track of the many different times she morphed, each one earning the same enthusiastic reaction from her charges and each reaction electrifying her and making her feel important and admired.

She couldn't remember a time when she'd had more fun, when she'd been able to relax and just be herself so completely around other people.

That is until a shrill, grating voice shattered the carefree illusion they'd managed to build around themselves.

"WHAT are you doing?" Moira MacTaggert screeched.

The universe halted and Ellie's heart sank to the floor. Hank dropped from the chandelier and Darwin melted back into his normal self and Alex and Sean dropped the chairs they'd been hitting him with and Raven hopped down from the couch she'd been dancing on and Ellie slowly fluttered to the ground, looking up at Charles with crushing shame in her golden hawk's eyes.

XoXoX

Just moments before…

"We've got intell that Shaw is meeting with the Soviet Defense Chief in Moscow," the CIA leader was saying to Agent MacTaggert. "So go ahead, say it," he said to her, sitting down across from her in his spacious office, dimly lit in the dark of the night.

"I'm not going to say 'I told you so', you know why I'm here," she replied.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, clearance to bring along your mutants, fight fire with fire. Makes sense," he said, glancing around at the other men in the room as he did.

"Wait," protested the man to his left. "You're ok with this? Sending in a bunch of untrained, unauthorized freaks?"

"These freaks are dedicated, hardworking, people," Mr. Broadmoore's voice sounded from the gloom at the opposite end of the table.

And that was that.

Charles and Erik were waiting for Moira as she left the room, Charles, of course, having been listening to the entire conversation and relaying what was said to his friend. A pang of amusement hit him and he had to fight not to laugh as Erik's lip curled at the word, 'freaks'. The man was just so sensitive.

"Your plane leaves for the Soviet Union in an hour," Moira said as she took off briskly down the hallway, Charles and Erik following respectfully behind. He was trying to concentrate on what she was saying, but a torrential babble of thoughts, tastes and sensations was becoming louder as they walked.

"I'm telling you, these kids are not ready for Shaw," said Erik, moving to walk a bit ahead of Moira.

Charles disapproved of this blatant lack of respect but said nothing. It was becoming difficult to differentiate between what thoughts were his and which weren't. What on God's green Earth was going on anyway? He tasted fruit and nuclear energy and wilderness and carrots and pure sugar all at the same time while colors exploded and swirled together in a big chaotic jumble at the corner of his mind vision. He managed to toss together a coherent thought and speak without totally screwing up. "They may surprise you. They're an exceptional bunch of young people."

It was then he realized that the babble wasn't only in his head, it was outside it too. He saw Erik and Moira's confused looks and was relieved that at least he was not finally going bonkers.

"What the hell?" Moira asked as the three rounded a bend and came upon the courtyard.

What the hell indeed, Charles thought to himself as the image hit him.

The wonderful statue lay in pieces scattered all over the lawn and bits of glass littered the concrete from a window that was no longer there. Raven was dancing on a couch to some God-awful music as Sean and Alex took turns hitting Darwin with chairs who appeared to be covered with scales.

"Harder!" the young man cried as Hank hung upside down by his feet from the light fixture and Angel and Ellie hovered around him.

Charles found that he could only stare in abject horror at the destruction and chaos that had become of the once dignified and pleasant room. These children, whom he had been defending not moments ago, had turned it into their own personal playground. Even his own sister was behaving as if she had no sense of respect or sensitivity to what the poor man who cleaned everything would think when he saw this. And don't even get him started on Ellaina. She was supposed to be watching them, protecting them and making sure they didn't get into trouble and here she was egging them on and participating in this vandalism. The worst part of it all was that she had betrayed his trust. Her, his Ellie, the one person he could always count on for anything. Suddenly, he almost wanted to weep.

"WHAT are you doing?" Moira demanded while Charles could only stand with his hands in his coat pockets, his disappointment was so great.

They all stopped, Hank, Angel and Ellie dropping to the floor, the hawk refusing to meet his eyes. Shame engulfed her and she shrank in on herself. At least she had the decency to whisper to him, _I'm so sorry Charles. _

"Who destroyed the statue?" Moira asked, looking at them all as a mother would an unruly brood.

"It was Alex," Hank spoke up, earning him disapproving looks from some while Raven insisted,

"No, Havoc. We have to call him Havoc, that's his name now." The chastised looks from a moment ago vanished as she stepped forward and spoke to Charles and Erik with a smile on her face. "And we were thinking, you should be Professor X and you should be Magneto," she said excitedly as she pointed to each of them.

Moira looked back at him incredulously, but he said nothing. He had never in his life seen such complete and utter lack of care or respect for others and he had never been so let down. To see his sister standing before him smiling as if she'd just come up with something spectacular and done nothing wrong broke his heart.

"Exceptional," Erik said. Charles ignored him.

Raven's smile vanished as he began to follow Moira and Erik as they walked away. "I expect more from you," he managed to say. _And especially from you, _he projected for Ellie's thoughts alone. _I'm so disappointed. I trusted you, Ellie. _

_I know, _she murmured as he severed the connection. _I failed you again, but I promise that it will be the last time. _

The last thing he saw as room and dejected teenagers disappeared from view was a barn owl, whisking silently away into the night.

Stung and hurt as he never had been before, he didn't waste a thought on wondering if she would ever come back.

**Well. There we have it. This is a Thanksgiving gift to all of my loyal readers. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about most of this. There was a lot of little things and nonsense that would have REALLY bogged the story down that I left out. It worked in the movie, but putting it all in writing would have been really awkward so I left a few little bits of that scene out. Please let me know what you think of my interpretation so I can take it down and fix it if it's heinous. **

**I hope y'all had a magnificent holiday and I love you all big! **

**Now, you can return the love by reviewing! :)**


	12. House Divided

Ellie wasn't really going to stay gone. She just needed to get out from under the weight of that stare. That awful, penetrating stare that was a window straight into the heart that she'd broken. Ok, maybe that was a bit over-exaggerated, but the fact remained that he'd been let down, essentially betrayed by the one person he'd placed his trust in. And that was what killed her.

So for a few hours she lost her mind to the sweet sensation of the night wind through her feathers. That indescribable feeling that lifts the soul to new and magical places and has a way of relieving of all pains and worries. If only for a little while. It was soft, sifting through her feathers and brushing against her skin like a healing rain. It whistled in her ears like a symphony, soothing her and quieting her mind. The world sped away below her, every detail visible even as miniscule as they were from her altitude. Her incredible hawk's eyes put the world into crystal clear focus and she could almost count the leaves on the trees hundreds of feet below her.

The temperature of the air on her belly began to warm and she felt it lift her ever higher. It was a thermal air pocket, a current of rising warm air that birds had long ago mastered. Without effort or exertion she rose, lifted by the thermal to new heights. The leaves and the trees and the world disappeared under a soft, fuzzy blanket as she passed smoothly through the clouds to emerge in a sea of stars.

You may wonder what clouds actually feel like. Well, they don't really feel like much of anything except cool. Moisture collected on her feathers and chilled her, but natural oils that coated them created a slick, watertight barrier and the droplets soon slid and fell away into the fluffy abyss below.

Higher and higher she climbed until all that was left was the ink-black sky twinkling beautifully with billions and billions of little fairy lights. All was silent and all was still. She couldn't see the Earth passing by below her and it was as if time itself were taking a collective breath. The stars were constant, ever twinkling, ever bright in a sky black as pitch. It was all she could see, an ocean of sparkling lights as far as her incredible eyes could see in any direction. Up here she felt tiny, microscopic even. Up here she felt as if she could breathe.

Charles and the heartache he caused her ceased to exist. She didn't have to worry about how she'd hurt him or how he'd abandoned them (_her_) for months while he was off traipsing the globe looking for freaks. She didn't have think about the shape and shade of his lips, the sheen of his hair or the creamy silk of his skin. Those crystal clear shards of the bluest, purest sky in the middle of his face didn't burn in the back of her mind like a brand that never cooled. Her hip didn't ache as much, her scars were safely hidden and for a while-just a little while-she was free.

But, like all dreams, it had to come to an end. She couldn't stay gone forever, as much as she might love to just keep flying and let the wind take her far away. Raven needed her and Erik was there. She felt an odd thrill at the thought of him, those muscles peering out at her through his skin tight turtlenecks, the way he'd looked at her when they'd been alone together in her room…

…the way he'd kissed her. He made her feel like a woman, strong and beautiful and whole and he seemed to be genuinely sorry about their first, ahem, private moment. At least, she hadn't sensed any of the responses the body makes when its master tells a lie.

Part of her desperately held out hope that Charles would miraculously choose her and insisted that she not pursue a relationship with Erik at all costs. But the bigger part of her desperately wanted to be free of the spell her beautiful Englishman had cast on her. Because it was more like a curse. Safely hidden behind her iron shell, he couldn't see. He would never see even if she walked right up to him, grabbed his head in her hands and crushed their lips together with all the force of years of suppressed passion.

Erik was masculine and strong and dominant. He embodied the male power that her animal craved, that _she _craved. She wanted him to sweep her away to go hide somewhere together. She wanted to play rough, she wanted the sweet spark of his lips on hers, his skin brushing hers but most of all she wanted to be wanted. And he most certainly wanted her. So she would ignore the stupid, ignorant, naïve part of her that could wait for Charles indefinitely. She tucked her wings and dove downward, through the cloud bank, shoving that part down as she did so.

They'll be back again in a few days, she told herself. Then we'll have some fun.

The beast purred.

OxOxO

Charles winced as another twig found its way inside his shirt and poked him. For what seemed like the millionth time he reached down and tugged the offending vegetation away. Then he replaced his binoculars and resumed the position. All four of them, Erik, Charles, Moira and Levine in a little row, were lying on their bellies propped up by their elbows with black binoculars pressed to their eyes. It might have been quite comical if the situation hadn't been so grim.

As they watched, an odd looking helicopter touched down in front of the old mansion. It was almost like one of those tiny remote control helicopters. It was barely big enough for two people and the bulk of the craft was the round, bulbous pod that housed the passengers. Its tail was a steel skeleton, just bare framework that couldn't have been more than ten feet long. But then again, Charles had never been very good at judging distance. Especially from a distance.

At that moment, someone stepped out of the craft, a someone that had Charles pricking his figurative ears and drawing his mind in as close to himself as he could get it.

She was white. Her skin was pale, her hair was a platinum blonde shade and her fuzzy outfit-complete with fluffy fur cap-was stark white. Shaw's accomplice.

Charles waited for the infamous mastermind to appear. Surely if his woman was here, he couldn't be far behind.

But as he watched, the tiny aircraft lifted up and away, leaving the fluffy white woman bouncing haughtily on her high heels up to the security guards at the barbed wire gate that gave a hard, military attitude to an otherwise peaceful scene.

"Where's Shaw?" Erik demanded, his surprise and anger lashing against Charles' mind like thorns.

"I don't know," Charles murmured, chewing on his bottom lip as he thought. "She's a telepath and if I read her, she'll know we're here." He could feel Moira's disappointment just as he could feel her fearful eyes trained on his face. But wait a minute, if he couldn't read her could he still find out where Shaw was? He had an idea. "Let me try something else," he said, closing his eyes and concentrating as he pressed a finger to his temple.

That mind, right there! The guard at the door could see her as she approached. Perhaps he could hear her too. Charles opened his eyes again and honed in on the man, merging their minds and for a moment literally stepping into someone else's shoes.

Charles watched her as she kissed the cheeks of the Soviet general who owned the mansion. "Shaw sends his apologies but he's indisposed. He asked me to come in his place." Bingo! So Shaw was not coming after all. But where was he? He listened closely as the woman continued. "And between you and I, honey, I'm a lot better company."

Yeah, that must have been the understatement of the century.

"Please, come in," purred the general as he lead her inside, guiding her with an eager hand on her shoulder.

Charles shook his head, releasing his hold on the guard's mind. "He's not coming. So what now, boss?" he asked, turning toward Moira though he already knew the answer.

"Now nothing," she said. "We're here for Shaw, mission aborted."

"The hell it is!" Erik cried, baring his teeth at Moira. "She's his right hand woman. That's good enough for me."

"The CIA invading the home of a senior Soviet official!" Moira turned on him incredulously. "Are you crazy?"

"I'm not CIA," Erik said with a dangerous smile before taking off into the forest.

"Erik!" Charles reached out to grab him just a moment too late and he was gone.

XoXoX

Ellie tugged on her jacket after landing in her room and shifting back with a disappointed sigh. She could have stayed a hawk for an eternity and never gotten used to it. Every shift was an entirely new experience and she always came back with a clearer mind and lighter heart. Her body was tired, but it was good tired. Her muscles were tight with exertion and she knew she'd be a bit sore tomorrow.

She rolled her shoulders a few times to loosen them as she entered the common room where the kids were lounging, sipping sodas or playing pinball on the machine in the corner.

"Jesus, man, you are killin' me!" Darwin said to Alex. Ellie cast them a smile in greeting which Alex returned eagerly.

"Don't beat yourself up, I've had a lot of spare time," Alex said.

Ellie sat down in one of the square black chairs next to Raven's spot on the couch and nodded at the four sitting there. Raven and Angel were on one side with Hank and Sean opposite them. Ellie opened the book she'd brought with her and settled down to read, though she kept one ear trained on the kids.

However, the kids weren't what she heard.

"Whoa, I didn't know the circus was in town!" jeered a voice from the other side of the newly replaced window. She kept her nose buried in her book, but the blood deep within her belly was set to boil.

"Come on, honey, give us a little whew, whew, whew, whew" the voice mocked again. This time she did look up, hoping to sear the offender with the full blast of her Ellie glare, but he wasn't looking at her. The man in the official looking suit was looking at Angel while making horrifically exaggerated wing motions with his hands. Ellie took a deep breath through her nose and carefully placed her book on the chair as she stood slowly. She moved with a dangerous grace to stand behind the young girl, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, let's see the foot." He turned his attention to Hank who didn't have the advantage of feral animal standing behind him. Hank stood, but Ellie waved him down.

The mocking eyes of the two men then fell on her. She'd seen eyes like those her entire life, pointed at Raven, pointed at her and she'd had about enough. A ruby haze crept into the edges of her vision as she stalked carefully toward the window like a lioness stalking her prey.

The man who'd been doing most of the mocking met her gaze and Ellie narrowed her eyes to dangerous slits. Doing the smart thing, he glanced away though he wasn't quite through tossing around insults.

"So this is the zoo animal, huh? I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty disappointed. I thought you'd be hotter," he said, but this time there was an underlying quiver of fear that lessened the impact of his words.

The grin she gave him was a snarl, complete with lioness fangs and a face morphed just so that it gave her demonic appearance. She could see herself in the glass just as she could see the two of them take several terrified steps back. "And I thought you'd be men," she purred.

SLAM!

Without warning she smashed her fists against the glass and snapped her teeth, delighting in their frightened yelps as they scuttled away and the curtain swung across to cover their escape.

Satisfied, Ellie turned and walked back to her chair. She picked up her book and continued reading as if nothing had happened. Sometimes she really loved being scary.

Raven looked over at her and smiled. Ellie winked back at her beautiful blonde sister. The girl was just so easy to love.

"They're just guys being stupid," she said to Angel.

"Guys being stupid I can handle," Angel replied, her anger and humiliation like sulfur in Ellie's nose. "I've handled that my whole life. But I'd rather a bunch of guys stare at me with my clothes off than the way these ones stare at me."

"At us," said Raven softly.

Angel looked away.

But Ellie was no longer paying attention to the kids. Something, not quite a sound but more of an impression on the atmosphere had registered somewhere deep in her inner ear. Her body was rigid with concentration and she was suddenly on high alert. Tiger's ears sprouted from the side of her head, hidden by her hair but magnifying the sound around her a hundred times. They swiveled back and forth, trying to catch some hint of anything out of the ordinary.

There it was again! It was almost like a swift sucking in of air lasting no longer than a split second. This time the vague impression of a scent accompanied it. It reminded her of the sulfur of Angel's anger, but Angel wasn't angry any more.

"Haha!" Alex's victorious laugh cut through her concentration like a hot knife through butter.

"Quiet!" she barked, suddenly on her feet. She heard it again, another puff of sulfur. Something or someone was here.

The kids froze, their eyes following her as she moved around the room, their apprehension evident. The sound came again, and the scent. This time it was louder, like a boom and the sulfur was stronger.

"What was that?" Darwin asked.

"I don't know, hush!" Ellie snapped, her eyes scanning the ceiling. Nothing. What was going on?

"Something doesn't feel right," Darwin spoke again, and Ellie grabbed him by the shoulders, piercing him with the intensity of her gaze.

"Be quiet!" she snarled at him.

She let him go and pressed the button to open the curtain, the rest of them following her to gather close together.

In a puff of fire and brimstone, a figure appeared against the white disk of the moon. No, wait, it was two figures. As they watched one of them flung its arms away, disconnecting it from the second figure which began to fall. Ellie knew what was going to happen and whirled around, grabbing Raven and tucking her face into her chest, shielding her from the horrific sight of a man plummeting to his death.

But she couldn't shield her from his scream.

The apprehension in the room jumped to pure fear, a hot, acidic scent so similar to anger that if it hadn't been so powerful she might not have placed it.

Lights leapt to life all around the compound, and men could be heard shouting orders and screaming as they began to fall like rain. Ellie backed the kids up into a tight group and turned to face the window, each shriek cut short by a sickening thump sending a dagger of pain straight to her heart. She spread her arms wide in a defensive gesture and prepared to shift. Whatever happened, she had to protect these children. There was no other option.

"Get back, get back! Do not leave that room!" Someone shouted as a squad of men flooded into the courtyard. "We're under attack!"

Another burst of flame and the figure appeared again, his arms spread and his head bowed in a sick imitation of Jesus Christ on his crucifix.

Ellie's hand flew up to cover her mouth as the kids screamed in terror. No! Nothing would touch them on her watch, especially no demon!

She bared her fangs and crouched into a defensive stance shouting, "Stay close to me!"

"Shoot, shoot!"

The men opened fire and the kids hit the deck, but it was no use. The demon disappeared again in a flash of flame.

Another flash and he was right there next to a man, grabbing his gun a whipping it around, hitting several and shattering the window. The scent of Death hit her nostrils and she felt him as he claimed their lives swiftly.

Bullets ricocheted around the room in a flash of sparks while the children screamed. Ellie and Darwin had their hands spread and their bodies protectively shielding their charges. They locked eyes for a split second and a silent agreement passed between them. They would stop at nothing to keep their kids safe.

A new sound had them swiveling around to face the opposite window where a massive whirwind flew in from the left and engulfed Cerebro. As they watched, Charles' most favorite of inventions and Hank's brain child was ripped to shreds by the powerful twister, leaving nothing in its wake.

A thump against the door drew Ellie and Darwin's gaze. How much more of this assault could they endure!

The slaughter outside continued in brilliant blasts of scarlet red flame and the flash of steel as the demon flitted from man to man, cutting each down as if they were nothing. Ellie's heart broke at such total carnage. So many innocent lives, snuffed out in an instant. Those tears she didn't try to stop.

"Stay here, my ass!" Darwin shouted. "Let's go!" He made for the door, the rest of them following.

"No!" Ellie cried, her body morphing as she did until she was a massive brown bear, a grizzly between them and the door. They did the smart thing and stopped.

An explosion rocked the building, cracking the concrete and shattering yet more glass. The noise from everything and all the chaos was deafening and Ellie's sensitive ears began to ache.

Their heads were whipping back and forth, trying to follow the path of carnage but only succeeding in giving themselves whiplash. The red demon continued to burst in an out of existence taking men out with him, and the whirlwind ripped what remained of Cerebro into even smaller pieces as it roared angrily. It picked up a man running for his life and tossed him through the unbroken window where he landed and did not move.

The red demon disposed of the last man and Ellie heard Raven sob. Though she was silent, tears streamed down her bear face in despair for so many innocent dead.

The whirlwind died and a well-dressed man stepped into the room just as did the demon. They were effectively trapped in the center and backed against a wall. Ellie flung her paws out wide and swung her massive head back and forth, roaring a challenge at the two invaders. A challenge that neither dared to accept.

"Wait!" a voice pleaded through the door. "You want the mutants? They're right through that door, just let us normal people go! We're not a thre-." He was cut short by the sound of gunfire and a third figure stepped into the room, creating a triangle of power so intense it was palpable.

The man wore a rather funny looking helmet, but no one was stupid enough to laugh. He had a cruel face and blank, emotionless eyes and he smelled of nuclear energy and power. So much power.

In an instant Ellie knew. There could be no doubt about it.

This was Sebastian Shaw.

OxOxO

Charles watched through his binoculars as barbed wire coils one by one reared up and wrapped themselves around the unsuspecting Soviets. Their shrieks of pain cut him to the quick and he cursed Erik inwardly.

"He's going to start World War III single handedly! We have to do something!" Levine said.

"Like what?" Moira demanded.

Erik sprinted through the gate, tossing up as if it were nothing. The remaining two guards took aim and fired, but he grabbed their guns and yanked toward him, tugging them along like rag dolls. He lashed out with his feet as he passed, kicking them hard enough to knock them unconscious. Then he was inside the mansion and out of Charles' reach. He had to do something.

"I'm sorry," he told Moira. "I can't leave him." And Charles Xavier followed Erik into the fray.

The pained moans of a dying man stopped him just inside the gate.

"For God's sake, Erik!" he cursed as he crouched next to the man, picking Russian out of his head as easily as he picked a name. Vladimir. "Be calm. Forget my face," he said, inwardly and outwardly. The man's eyes slowly closed and he went to sleep.

Not quite satisfied with this turn of events, Charles sprinted up the open field and into the mansion where he was met with a slew of downed men. All Charles had to do to find his man was follow the path of destruction. It led him straight up some stairs and into the heart of the opulently furnished home.

He caught up to Erik just in time to burst through some large oak double doors together. There he was me with one of the strangest sights he'd ever seen.

The woman was sitting on one of the couches next to the rather small bed in nothing but her undergarments and her go-go boots while the Soviet general sat on the bed and fondled thin air. The poor man thought he had a beautiful woman in his arms, and as much as he didn't like her, he had to admit he respected her skill.

Charles glanced at Erik and Erik glanced back, quite confused. The general on the bed seemed to break out of some kind of trance as he froze and stared at the two men who had just exploded into his bedroom.

"Nice trick," Charles breathed to the woman looking at him warily.

"Who are you?" the general demanded in Russian as he went for the gun in his pocket.

"Go to sleep!" Charles compelled him, and he had no choice but fall backward as his mind shut down.

She stood, closing off her mind as securely as a high security vault. He could find no entry. But what startled him more was the way her form seemed to ripple and all human tissue disappeared as her body morphed into a living, breathing diamond in her image.

Good Lord, what an ability! So that's how she managed to keep him out so well. She was literally as hard as stone.

"You can stop trying to read my mind, sugar," she purred sensually while also stabbing Charles with a mental dagger so painful he couldn't help but flinch. "You're never going to get anything from me while I'm like this."

For a half second she, Charles and Erik stared at each other…

…and then she charged.

Charles and Erik rushed her, each grabbing an arm and pulling her backward. She hit them like, well, like a solid stone wall. But even a diamond woman was no match for the strength of two well-toned gentlemen.

With a mighty effort they had her shoved back up against the baseboard and Erik wrapped the steel around her hands and pulled them tight, holding her fast.

"So then you can just tell us," he said logically. "Where's Shaw?" All trace of amicability fled his voice and his stature at the question.

She ignored him, struggling against her bonds as her body sparkled seductively. Charles had to actively redirect his thoughts as they began leading him places he truly had no wish to go.

Another bit of bed frame whipped out and wrapped around her throat, pinning her still more and quieting her struggles. A tiny gasp of pain escaped her lips.

"Erik," Charles warned softly. This was no way to treat a woman, even a woman known for a fact to be whole-heartedly evil.

Though she was obviously in pain, she stayed silent. The coil around her neck tightened.

"Erik, that's enough," Charles said, louder this time.

The coil pulled tighter, Erik's face trained on that one bit of steel with an intensity Charles had only seen once.

"Erik, that's enough!" he demanded, but the coil pulled still tighter. The stone at the base of the woman's neck began to crack, only then did Erik release her and she shifted back into human flesh and bone as she gasped for breath.

"All yours," Erik said to Charles, pouring himself a glass of whatever was in the decanter on the table and having a seat.

Charles had not yet been angry with his friend, but suddenly he was furious. Did the man have no respect? Was he doomed to be disappointed by everyone he cared about?

"She won't be shifting into diamond form again," Erik said smugly. "And if she does, just give her a gentle tap."

Charles did not acknowledge him, but knelt before the woman (Emma Frost, he now knew) and pressed two fingers to his temple.

What he saw would haunt him for the rest of his days.

Through the sick, twisted mind of Emma Frost he saw Shaw's plan. He saw missiles planted on Cuba, only 90 miles from the coast of Florida and he saw nuclear war between the two great world powers. It was a nuclear war so great that the world was reduced to rubble and flame and smoke, millions of innocent dead at the hands of a madman.

He heard Shaw's voice saying smoothly, "We are the children of the atom. Radiation gave birth to mutants. What will kill the humans will make us stronger."

Charles felt sick to his stomach as he exited her mind, unwilling to subject himself to any more.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Frost said.

Charles said to Erik, "This is worse than we previously imagined." He turned back to Frost. "We're taking you with us. The CIA will want to question you themselves."

"Oh, I doubt it," she countered. "They have bigger things to worry about right now."

Quick as a flash he put two and two together and his stomach fell to the floor as he thought, _Ellie, Raven! _

**Bam! Wow, that was a long one! :) Just a head's up, the next chapter is going to start when Charles gets back because I want to keep it from his point of view. If you're reading this you've most likely already seen the movie so you know what happens in between anyway. I'm just really eager to get them all back to Westchester cuz the quicker they get home, the quicker the romance can really take off :) I know you're all so excited about that! I hope you are cuz I know I am! Until then, review please! I thrive on feedback and would really like to make it to one hundred reviews! I know this is shootin high but it's a hope. **

**Love you all and hope you had a great holiday! **


	13. Finally Home

Charles knew something was terribly wrong even as he stepped off the plane and packed his meager luggage into the trunk of the shiny black car he knew was to take him back to the research facility. It was something about the grim set of the driver's face or his hollow eyes that spoke of tragedy. Charles dared not ask and he dared not look for fear of what he might find there. They (_she_) had to be alright. It would surely kill him if they weren't.

He, Moira, Erik and Levine sat in silence for an hour and a half as they rode through spectacular countryside to their destination. Though the pines were lovely and the sky was as blue as his eyes he saw none of it. One face swam in front of his vision, blocking out all other thought and care as he prayed to whoever would listen that they (_she_) were fine.

His heart fell to his toes as the car rounded the bend that took them straight into the heart of the facility and he saw the destruction there.

The place was in shambles. The handsome and well-structured front walk had been torn asunder and huge chunks of broken concrete and stone littered the grounds. Downed scraggly trees lay scattered here and there and the windows were mostly shattered, their glass scattered in pieces in every direction. Even the sky seemed to be now overcast and gray as men (far fewer than should have been out and about at a time like this) in black suits with faces as hollow as his driver's rushed back and forth.

Charles jumped out of the car before it had even come to a complete halt and took off up what was left of the stone walk, dodging bits of stone and broken boulders. Five young people sat on a miraculously intact stretch of bench with their heads hung low and their eyes telling of their shock. There should have been seven. Where were the other two?

All questions fled his mind as a pretty little blonde in a short skirt and leather jacket leapt up and started toward him. It took him a moment to recognize his sister, but when he did he wrapped his arms around her and breathed in her scent, relief flooding him like warm water.

Even as he held her his eyes frantically sought someone else, looking for that auburn hair…ah, there she was. Ellie was perched on the top of the stone bench with her head cradled by her hands as they lay on her knees. She was bent double and her hair covered her face and if he hadn't known her better he might have assumed she was crying.

_Elle, _he projected to her gently and she lifted her head to look at him with those emerald eyes that made his heart do a funny little leap.

_I'm so sorry, Charles,_ she whispered, images of her shame and guilt at the previous night's events flooding his mind.

_Don't worry about that now, love, _he said, holding his hand out to her while gripping Raven still tighter. _I'm just glad you're alright. _She took his hand and he pulled her in close, clutching his two women to his chest and focusing in on the feel of Ellie's arms twined around his waist and the apple flavor her mind always carried with it.

After he was satisfied that they were truly whole and safe he let them go, not expecting in the least what Ellie did next.

No sooner had he loosened his hold on her than had she stepped away and into the arms of someone else. Erik wrapped her up and bent to press his face into the crook of her neck and shoulder as she did the same.

Charles was all of a sudden aware of a desire to snarl as his blood began to boil at the sight of them. The feeling was an unsettling to him as it was abrupt and he shook his head to clear it but was unable to really focus on anything until they had separated and Ellie had moved a few feet away to put a hand on Hank's shoulder.

_I'll show you what happened later. _Ellie's mind voice shattered whatever dark and mysterious haze had momentarily possessed him and jolted him back to the present.

_Alright, _he projected to her while speaking out loud to all of them. "We've made arrangements for you to be taken home immediately." It really wasn't fair of him to expect them to still be onboard with this mutant military idea after what had just happened, especially with no place for them all to go. Was the program still going to be in operation with the facility and most of its staff gone?

"We're not going home," Sean said, peering up at him through round, dark sunglasses.

"What?" Charles asked.

"He's not going back to prison," the boy said, looking at Alex as he did so.

"He killed Darwin!" Alex exclaimed, and Ellie's head fell forward again. She was trying hard not to cry.

"All the more reason for you to leave," Charles countered. This battle had taken a turn for the deadly and he certainly didn't want children involved, especially not knowing what he did now about Shaw and his associates. "This is over."

"Darwin's dead, Charles," Raven said quietly, her voice betraying her sorrow. "And we can't even bury him."

"We can avenge him." Erik's deep voice had everyone's heads snapping in his direction to stare.

Charles would not have this man's masochistic ideals contaminating the minds of his charges.

"Erik, a word please," he said, brushing past him to stand a ways away and out of earshot of all but Ellie with her sharp animal ears. "They're just kids," he said.

"No," Erik insisted. "They _were _kids. Shaw has his army, we need ours." The man spoke low but with an intensity Charles had come to expect. He glanced away and then down at his shoes, unable to meet that grey graze.

He had to admit, there was merit to the idea. It would take mutants to stop Shaw and four-powerful as they were-did not an army make. Neither did seven really, but it was better than four. Besides, he'd pulled these kids from their homes and one from prison to do this job and it wasn't fair to send them back now. He'd promised Alex that he wouldn't have to go back to prison, and what kind of monster went back on his word? In a split second, Charles had come to a decision that would change all of their lives forever.

He turned back to face the kids, their backs straightening and their figurative ears perking up as they awaited his answer.

"We'll have to train. All of us," he said, their sudden surge of excitement bolstering his own spirit.

_Yes! I'm never going back to that hell-hole!_

_This is gonna be awesome! We'll be our own mutant army! _

"Yes?" he asked, already knowing the answer. They nodded and Ellie smiled a dangerous smile at the promise of revenge and a good fight.

Then Hank threw a monkey wrench into the plans. "We can't stay here. Even if they reopen the department, it's not safe. We've got nowhere to go."

Charles caught Ellie's and Raven's eyes, the two women lighting up like sparklers on the Fourth of July with hope. He nodded slightly at them and they looked at each other, breaking out into huge ear-to-ear grins.

"Yes we do," Charles said.

"We're going home!" Ellie shouted, leaping into the air and sweeping Raven up for a joyous embrace.

Yes indeed. They were going home.

OxOxO

Standing back on good ole Westchester grass, the forest stretching out before her on all sides and a fresh breeze in her face, Ellie had never before felt more alive. Home, big and otherworldly as it was, stood magnificently before her like an old friend. Every brick, every stone, every window, every scent and every fine piece of art that clung to it like ivy was as familiar to her as the back of her hand, and seeing it again after so many years felt as if she had never left. Her face exploded into a wondrous smile as she lifted it toward the sun, the New York chill on her cheeks only making her that much warmer.

The building itself was powerful, built straight up in solid vertical lines and capped off with one solid roof with a few towers branching up here and there. The whole thing was essentially a solid cube. Very solid with huge picture windows on all three floors. The curtains had been drawn back and the grounds maintained for their arrival. A mass of huge, ancient green trees covered the hills that backed the castle with a few bright bursts of orange and yellow that added color.

"This is yours?" Sean's grating voice intruded on her reverie but she refused to let it detract from the beauty of being home.

"No," Charles said. "It's ours."

Only then did she look at them, clustered together and staring in awe at the castle that for so long had been home to Ellie, Raven and Charles. She could only imagine what it must be like for them now to see it for the first time. Ellie remembered feeling as if she'd woken up in Victorian England and deciding that perhaps finding herself in such a strange family's home wasn't so bad after all.

"Well, Charles," Erik said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I don't know how you survived. Living in such hardship."

Charles gave him a disparaging look and Raven wound her way to the front of the group to stand close to him. "Well, it was a hardship softened by me," she practically purred at Erik in a flirtatious way that irritated Ellie to no end. Charles kissed the blonde girl's cheek and she said, "Come on. Time for the tour."

"I think I'll go for a run if you don't mind," Ellie said to Charles who nodded his head with a knowing smile.

"Go on, we won't have dinner without you."

"Thanks, love!" She shouted, already leaping over the balcony. When he saw her streaking across the grounds on the other side, she was a cheetah, her form blurred with speed for only a moment before she disappeared.

Erik's gaze lingered on her retreating form until she vanished into the trees. Only then did he turn and follow them into the bowels of the palace Charles called home.

XoXoX

Ellie raced the wind across the open lawn and into the trees. Speeding along at sixty miles per hour she zipped in between the foliage just as she'd done a thousand times before, following the path she'd worn smooth years ago that had stood the test of time. It was fainter now and disappeared altogether in places, but her scent still lingered and she picked it up as faint as it was.

Oh, how she'd missed this place! She'd carved this path every day for years as doe and panther and wolf and rabbit and any other creature she could think of at the time. She'd even done it in snake form a few times. Snakes weren't a form she particularly enjoyed, what with the lack of legs and all, but she thought it might be interesting to try a few times anyway.

She ran as fast as she could for as far as the cheetah's short burst of stamina could carry her. Then, without hardly thinking about it, she melted into wolf form and all fatigue fled. The ease with which she had changed caught her off guard. She couldn't even remember a time when it had been that easy. It must be her reaction to finally being home after so long. The moment she'd stepped off the truck she'd felt her body begin to relax. The beast recognized her territory, and Ellie supposed that in her content she'd decided to behave. Well, she certainly wasn't complaining!

The silver wolf trotted leisurely through the forest, surveying her domain with vivid green eyes that were the only clue to her true nature. Her powerful canine nose picked up everything there was to be scented within a mile radius. A mouse had crossed her path about an hour earlier and a rabbit was coming this way now. Ellie's stomach growled but she ignored it. She'd wait until she got back to the house. Cooked food beat raw and bleeding any day.

She loped along as a wolf for a little while longer, calmly studying the way the sunlight filtered through the layers of forest to dance off of the ground. A bit farther along she came to the place where her path crossed perpendicular to a little stream she'd named The Babbler. It was as good a stopping place as any, so she bent her muzzle to lap up a bit of water and then sat down to rest for a moment. She wrapped her bushy tail around her paws and lifted her face into the breeze, simply enjoying the sensation of cool wind through her fur. After she'd caught her breath she got back up and began a slow, peaceful trek home.

The sun had set by the time she trotted through the huge oak double doors held open by Fran, one of the maids that had been with their little family for decades and had seen more than she probably cared to admit.

"Welcome home, Ms. Ellaina," she said warmly and laughed as Ellie reared up to lick her cheek.

_Hi Fran! I've missed you! _she called before proceeding to follow the scent of her favorite dish to the dining hall. Macaroni and cheese! Yum!

Seven people sat around one end of an opulent dining room table long enough to seat twenty. The golden candelabras were still standing elegantly at regular intervals along the glossy mahogany table and silver chairs with plum velvet cushions stood regally in their usual places. The massive paintings along the walls of various whimsical scenes added color and life to an otherwise dark room and the large window that made up one wall gave them an excellent view of the grounds.

"Ah, there you are!" Charles called to her from his customary seat at the head of the table. "We were beginning to worry." His bright smile was the icing on her already too-good-to-be-true cake.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said after melting seamlessly back into human form and taking her seat on his right where she was sandwiched firmly between him and Erik. Lovely.

The table was laden with more delicious food than Rhode Island could eat in a year, the macaroni situated directly in front of her fine china place setting. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to God for bringing her home after so long.

Without hesitating she reached out and loaded her plate with a little bit of everything in her reach, poured herself a glass of wine and dug in. After about a minute or so she became aware that no one else was eating yet.

She looked around and saw that they were all staring at her. "What?" she asked around a mouthful of macaroni.

Charles and Raven glanced at each other. "Nothing," he said with an amused smile, his crystal eyes dancing merrily. He gestured to the rest of them and suddenly the room was filled with the sounds of clinking silverware and pleasant conversation.

The next hour passed smoothly and rather quietly when compared with the chaos of the last few weeks. Ellie managed to carry on civilized conversation with everyone but Sean and Moira at least once. Sean bugged the living daylights out of her with his incessant gingerness and ridiculous jokes that made no sense and Moira bugged the living daylights out of her with her constant (and incredibly lacking in skill) flirtation with Charles and her overall stupidity. For some reason the woman just grated on her nerves.

Be that as it may, she left the table fuller and yet somehow lighter than she had been in a long time.

"Everyone, a moment please," Charles called to them as they began to stand, and they turned their attention toward him once more. He stood at the head of the table looking very businesslike with his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes boring into the souls of all who dared meet his gaze. "We begin training promptly at nine tomorrow morning. Get a good night's sleep and meet in the common room no later than nine o'clock. Ellie, Erik and I will be in charge of lessons. Ellie will be teaching a bit of self-defense sans abilities while I will be handling the strengthening of your mutations. Erik will be shifting back and forth between the two of us, helping where he is needed. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask one of us. Sleep well and wake prepared."

"Ellie's gonna be doin what now?" she exclaimed, inhaling a bit of her wine in shock. She'd never taught anything before in her life, let alone self-defense! Had the man finally gone crazy?

"Teaching them how to defend themselves without using their mutations," Charles said slowly, raising a brow at her as if it were actually she that had lost her mind.

"Uhh…"

"Alright then, good night and we'll see you all in the morning!" Charles called in a clear dismissal and the kids filed out of the room leaving Ellie standing, thunderstruck, with Charles, Moira and Erik.

"Charles, are you sure you want me teaching these kids anything?" Ellie gripped his shoulder and whispered desperately into his ear. She couldn't do it! What would she teach? How would she teach?

_Yes, I am and yes, you can,_ his mind voice echoed around inside her head as he pressed his confidence upon her.

_Ok, Charles. I'll try. _

_You'll do spectacular._

Oh, she wished she could believe it.

OxOxO

"Well, no," she said to Erik as they arrived at the door to her suit. His was just down the hallway so he'd offered to walk her there. "I actually listen to all kinds of music, Celtic just happens to be my favorite."

"I never would have pegged you for the Celtic type," he commented.

"Well, I wouldn't have pegged you for the piano playing type." She'd found out a lot of interesting things about Erik on the roughly thirty minute walk that should have taken them fifteen. He was a musician and an avid reader with a taste for classics who had even dabbled in drawing for a while. Ellie thought she'd recognized a creative spark in him.

The two came to a halt just outside her door and hesitated. She didn't want to get ready for bed just yet.

"You are quite the interesting man, Mr. Lensherr," she said, leaning back against the wall. Her heartbeat picked up pace as he leaned in close, bracing his hands on either side of her.

A dark shadow flickered behind his gunmetal gray eyes, but before she could be sure she'd really seen it, it was gone. "You don't know the half of it," he said, his voice more like a low growl that sent a tremor up her spine.

Then he kissed her, his lips solid and firm but somehow soft at the same time. One hand came up to cup the back of her head and draw her in closer, deeper as he pressed his body against hers. Her hands moved of their own accord, sliding up under his turtleneck to ghost across the skin of his abdomen, every muscle clearly defined and rock solid. Delicious.

His tongue swiped the inside of her mouth briefly and it felt so good it made her teeth hurt.

Somehow, she managed to regain control of herself long enough to remember how important tomorrow would be. She broke away and removed her hand from the inside of his shirt. "We have a big day tomorrow. We'd better not get carried away now," she panted.

He smiled a devilish half smile that made her heart flip in her chest and nodded, kissing her once more lightly on the lips before taking off down the hallway to his own room. She was still leaning against the wall, cheeks flushed when Charles came upon her a few minutes later.

"Elle, are you alright?" he asked, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. It must have been the aftermath of her moment with Erik, but she'd never had to fight so hard to keep herself from lurching forward and claiming him then and there.

Through gritted teeth she replied, "Stellar," and vanished into her own room, turning on the small television in an effort to distract her from her man troubles and calm down. It didn't help. In fact, what she saw and heard on the television only made her feel worse.

_President Kennedy has signed a formal proclamation setting up a blockade of all missiles bound for Cuba. The Soviet Union reacted by terming it, "a step along the road to unleashing a thermo-nuclear war". _The wailing of sirens could be heard in the background as images of mushroom clouds and children practicing duck and cover drills in school flashed across the black and white screen.

Ellie's heart plummeted. She had more important things to worry about than men. If they didn't stop Shaw soon, if they failed, the world as they knew it would be no more.

**Whoo! Back at Westchester, finally! We're on the home stretch people! I plan on spending a few chapters on their training at the castle and here in the next few will be the moment you've all been waiting for! That's right, romance! I can't wait! **

**As always, I thrive on your reviews! **

**Love you all!**


	14. Home Schooled

"Alright then," Ellie said in her most commander-like voice. She stood outside on the grounds across from Alex in her grey sweats with her hands on her hips and did her best to look like she knew what she was doing. The young man rolled his eyes at her and crossed his arms over his chest, disdain for the activity Charles had set them to evident in the slack line of his body and the set of his mouth.

Ellie felt the corner of her mouth curl back in a tiny snarl. He wasn't going to take this seriously? Fine, she would get his attention one way or another.

Without warning or hesitation she lunged forward and struck out with her fist, catching him smack in the middle of his forehead and taking him by surprise. She used her lame leg like a brace, and though it hurt like hell it didn't buckle and she executed that move stronger and better than she had in a long time.

Alex fell to the ground with a very satisfying whump, the stunned look on that face of his was positively priceless. She didn't even try to restrain the huge belly laugh that erupted out of her, throwing her head back and she allowed herself a moment at his expense before stepping forward to help him up.

"What the hell was that for?!" he shouted, shoving his face into her face and glaring directly into her eyes.

The beast fluttered inside and she shoved him back with both hands on his chest before the situation got too out of hand. He glanced down and away as he stumbled back, eye contact broken, crisis averted.

"That was to get your head where it needs to be, Summers," she said, steel slipping into her voice with the need to get him to understand, but the funny thing was that she didn't understand it herself. She was grasping at straws, trying to give reason to the absurd instructions Charles had given them. She spoke with vehemence, never letting on that she was in any way unsure.

"I don't know if you're aware, but the United States is about to fall into World War III at the hands of a madman and we're the only ones who can stop it. You became a soldier the moment you stepped into Charles' car, and a soldier always has to be prepared for the unexpected. We don't know what might happen when we go up against Shaw. He might have some device or weapon that somehow takes away our abilities and we still have to defeat him. We just don't know. Besides, this is a way of keeping you all busy while Charles and Hank work with the others. So, give me your best shot," she said, settling into a defensive stance, all her weight on her good leg.

Alex did the same, his face telling her that he would grudgingly accept this, but he was not happy about being told what to do.

She watched him, watched his eyes dart over her body as he looked for a point of attack. Once he had finally decided, he moved forward slow and cumbersome in the way that bullies do. He was all bulk and no speed. She was prepared for him when rushed and was able to block him easily. She made a half step sideways and used her forearm to brace against his chest and sweep him off to the side. He tripped over his own feet and ended up on the ground again, shooting daggers at her with his eyes.

"Ok, first thing," she said, hauling him to his feet again. "You're too obvious with your attack. Don't think so much about what you're going to do. Second thing, you need a stronger stance. You fell because you tripped over yourself, not because I moved you. Third, you've _got _to be faster than that. Try it like this…Stronger base…there you go…Now come at me again…"

XoXoX

"So what are the boys doing while we're all lounging about in here?" Erik drawled, plucking another sandwich from the heaping tray Ellie had placed on the coffee table after summoning both he and Charles to the study for a chat. The room, adorned with deep scarlet and gold and dark wood was dimly lit by a few stylish lamps strategically placed that cast the men's planes into illumination, throwing their shadows into sharp relief. It harshened them, made them ragged and tired-looking. They smelled tired. It appeared as if no one had gotten much sleep last night. She didn't know about them, but her dreams had been plagued by familiar faces blown to bloody bits by the impending crisis. With each gory, sickening explosion she'd woke with sweat pouring down her body and screams raw in her throat.

She stifled a shudder and grabbed a turkey sandwich, nibbling with dainty bites. "Alrighty then. The whole self-defense thing isn't working," she said around a mouthful of sandwich. "Alex is hopeless and I honestly don't think Hank or Sean are going to be much better. Besides, it's their abilities that really need refining, don't you think? I mean, we only have a very limited amount of time, and I think we need to spend it on things that really matter," she said, glancing between the two of them. Charles shuffled through her memories of that morning before nodding his head slowly and reluctantly.

"I think you're right," he said with a sigh. "So what do you propose?" He leaned forward, fixing her with that stare that said he was listening intently.

"Well, I've been comparing methods used by successful academies and I've found that…" and Ellie launched into an elaborate outline of teaching methods, assessments, class structures, teachers and headmasters. It didn't take Charles long to figure out to whom she was referring when she mentioned headmasters, and when he did he balked. No. No way was he going to skip over the dreaded position of professor and move straight on into headmaster even if the whole thing was only theoretical! He was only twenty eight for the love all that was holy! Headmasters are old, fat, bald and silly and there was absolutely no way on God's green earth that he would associate himself with them. At least not for a very long time.

But the longer Ellie spoke, the more animated and excited she became. Her eyes sparkled and danced as she delved deeper and deeper into her plan for the tiny school. The more excited she became, the more enraptured Charles became. It was just like when she would practice her lectures on him at home or one of the rare occasions that he actually got to sit in on one. She spoke with such passion, such fire and amazement that everyone around was drawn in and infected by her enthusiasm. Charles hated history, but when Ellie began talking he fell nearly as deeply in love with it as she was. Just as he was falling more and more in love with the ideas she presented now.

Besides, it made sense. Who else in this house had the ability to do what he could for the children? Certainly not Ellie. She was too hotheaded with too ill a temper. And Erik, well Erik just didn't care about the kids like his two companions did. And Moira didn't even factor into this equation.

He looked back and forth between Erik and Ellie who was watching him with hopeful eyes and a huge smile as she spoke, the scar on the side of her face turned black by the dim lighting. But when he looked at Erik he saw something that unsettled him. He was watching her as Charles was, and this alone would not have bothered him (she was the one speaking after all) had it not been for the predatory gleam in his steely eyes that was as familiar to him as the taste of apples. It was the same look he'd seen in her so many times over the past several years when the beast inside her came into readiness. It was during these moments when she would shut herself in her playroom and claw, fly, run and essentially exhaust the pent up frustration out of herself.

Once he had commented on it, the look, and asked what it meant. She had told him in a dark, serious tone: "When you see it, walk backwards the way you came as fast as you can. Especially if you're wearing clothing you're particularly fond of because you won't be wearing it much longer."

At first he'd been shocked and appalled that she would even think such a thing. Surely she was joking? But the intense look did not leave her face. "Ellie, are you saying that you would…" he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"Yes, Charles." Her eyes grew wet and bright with unshed tears, and it was then that he knew how serious this was. She never cried in front of him. "It's not you, it's that you're male and she's a female who's come of age. I can't control it and it terrifies me. I would sooner kill myself than…than hurt you Charles so please, if you see that look, get away and leave me alone until I tell you it's ok." The look she gave him was so desperate, so pleading that all he could do was nod.

To see that look now, in grey eyes rather than green and directed at the one who usually gave it was deeply disturbing. And there was something else. Anger. That look from Erik to Ellie made him angry. He felt it, dark and burning deep in the pit of his stomach and he had to work to keep his face serene. But why? Why did this make him angry? He knew why, but didn't want to admit it to himself. He couldn't stand the idea of Erik touching her. He didn't want him to. At all. Ever.

And then a thought came, unbidden and unexpected from some place deep in his psyche that he didn't know existed.

_Mine._

It startled him so badly felt himself physically flinch, and he shoved it back down where it had come from for later examination. Ellie was looking at him expectantly as if she had asked him a question.

"What?" he asked.

She chuckled at him, eyes dancing. "Where do you get lost in that head of yours, Charles? I said, 'What do you say after lunch we start assessments with Alex? After that we can take a look at Sean and if there's still light we can see what Hank can do. Then we can reconvene and discuss what to do from there?'"

"Excellent, Ellie. Really excellent. Erik?" Charles turned to Erik to ask him for his thoughts, but the man was already at the door.

He threw Charles an indecipherable look before saying, "Ellie, I have something to discuss with you when you're all done playing schoolhouse." And with that he was gone.

Charles looked at Ellie. All the mirth was gone from her face, replaced with two contradictory emotions. Uneasiness and excitement.

The anger was back, but much hotter this time. The thought that there was another meaning behind Erik's seemingly harmless statement and that she both understood and appreciated it was not only painful, it was unbearable. He had noticed nothing between them before, but that didn't mean there had been nothing. Erik had been with them for several weeks now and there were any number of moments when they could have been alone together in that time. How had he not seen this sooner? Why did he care so much? It had nothing to do with him!

But Charles knew deep inside that that was untrue. For reasons that remained a mystery, this had everything to do with him and he hated it.

Stunned into silence by an anger and pain he did not understand, Charles Xavier simply got up and left.

OxOxO

Alone with her thoughts and some left over sandwiches, Ellie marveled at the utter weirdness of what had just happened. She knew what Erik wanted to 'discuss' but even though the beast (and a part of her as well) was thrilled by the prospect, she dreaded having to put him down. What had happened before couldn't happen again, and she felt that it was going to be difficult to get Erik Lehnsherr to understand that.

And then there was Charles. He sure had left in a hurry. And what was that look he had given the floor on his way out? He'd tried to hide it, but she knew him too well by now. That look had been dark and full of hurt and all she'd wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and kiss him until he didn't hurt any more. But he was fine just moments ago? What could have happened-oh wait. He must have seen her face after Erik left and realized what his statement had meant. She was one of Charles' best friends so she could sort of understand the anger, but the pain? What about the situation would have caused him pain? Unless there was some slim chance that he might feel-NO!

She shook her head, stopping that thought in its tracks. There was no chance of that. She decided just to attribute it to Brits and their weirdness and set about cleaning up the remains of lunch. After she'd dropped everything off in the kitchen she made her way down to the only place she could think of that might be able to contain Alex since Charles had told her nothing about where he was headed. Sure enough, the two of them were in the bunker.

"My stepfather took the idea of nuclear war quite seriously," Charles was saying, directing Alex who carried a white mannequin into the middle of the long, shiny stone floor as the lights flicked on one by one. "He had this bunker built down here. I thought we could use it as a practice range of sorts."

"You don't think I'm going to blow up the walls?" Alex asked apprehensively.

Ellie stepped into the room and called, "He had this place built to withstand a nuclear bomb, Alex. I think it can handle you."

Alex started at the sound of her voice behind him and the two men walked back to the end of the bunker nearest the door where she stood waiting. She smiled at Charles warmly, testing the waters. He smiled back, all trace of his earlier distress gone. She nearly sighed aloud with relief.

"You know when I do this, bad things tend to happen?" Alex pressed, still unconvinced of the room's security. Ellie could smell his nerves.

"It's because you can't control it," Charles said. "_It _controls you. That's why we're here Alex. That's why we're training."

He nodded at Ellie and the two of them retreated behind the heavy door and locked it, safeguarding the inside of the room. Ellie nearly laughed at the irony of the situation. The room was built to protect from danger outside, but the two of them were on the outside being shielded from the danger inside.

The two looked at each other and nodded once.

"Whenever you're ready!" Ellie called.

They didn't have to wait long before hearing a series of loud, indescribable sounds erupted from inside and she could smell ozone through the door. She looked at Charles with eyebrows raised and an incredulous grin. He smirked back and the red danger light above their heads began to flash as a siren wailed.

The two of them were totally unprepared for the sight that awaited them. Great rings of the room had been set on fire, as if some giant with a flaming sword had come along and sliced the room into pieces. Ellie felt her mouth drop open while Charles grabbed a fire extinguisher exclaiming, "My God!"

He darted around the room, spraying the lines of flames with the fire extinguisher that didn't really do any good whatsoever, while Alex stood there and watched him and Ellie stood there and stared.

"We will teach you to control this Alex." Charles promised, making another pass with the extinguisher. Ellie wasn't so sure.

It took the three of them an hour to finally quell the flames in the bunker, using all of five fire extinguishers to get the job done. Afterward, the trio stood and stared for a moment before Charles patted him on the shoulder and turned to leave.

"Thank you, Alex. Try not to worry. We will fix this," Ellie told him before following Charles to the ground level of the house where they found Sean where he had been since they arrived. In the living room with Moira in front of the television.

"Sean," Charles said, getting his attention from the doorway. "Come with me please. Ellie, will you get one of the spare window panes from the basement?" he asked her.

"Sure."

A few minutes later she was hauling a very heavy window that was twice as tall as she was out onto the front courtyard where she noticed that there was one extra person. Oh fabulous, Moira McTaggert had joined them. The beast growled angrily, awakened from her slumber. With a huff, Ellie propped the window up and grabbed the protective headphones left for her before going to stand between Moira and Charles.

Charles nodded at Sean, standing lazily to the side with his arms folded over his chest. He then turned toward the glass and gave a shrill whistle, painful even through the headphones. Ellie jumped a little as the glass shattered, exploding outward in all different directions.

Charles laughed out loud, whipping off his headphones and turning to Sean.

"What you're doing is incredible. You pitch your sound waves at the same resonant frequency as the glass, that's why it shatters," Charles said. "But this," he touched his own throat, "is a muscle. You can control it." He glanced at Ellie, excitement in his blue eyes. "Thank you, Sean. You can go back in now."

Sean nodded and turned to trudge back up to the house without a word. Ellie couldn't help but notice that Moira lingered, a nauseating smile directed at Charles.

"I'll go get Hank," she mumbled before stalking off.

Thankfully, when she came back (Hank in tow in his gray suit) Moira was gone and Charles was waiting patiently. She wondered why, but not too much because she was too busy being happy about it.

"Ah, Hank!" Charles said, patting him on the shoulder. "Thank you for coming out here. I know we've interrupted your experiments and I'm sorry, but we want to get a feel for what you can do. Ellie, I'm going to need you be fast for this one." He sent her a knowing smile as the beast leapt to the surface.

She smirked a dangerous smirk and knew when the boys each took a step back that her fangs were showing. She only smiled bigger as she felt the change work its way over her with an ease and comfort that was rare. The beast wasn't resisting and she melted into the sleek, fluid form of the leopard in record time. The near constant pain in her hip subsided until it almost wasn't there. She shook herself and trembled in pleasure and anticipation of the run.

Charles chuckled at her excitement and turned to Hank as he began walking. "I'm going to time you, and you're going to race her from one end of the back balcony to the other. With those feet of yours, it should be easy, yes?" he asked. They came up on the end of the back balcony and Ellie hunkered down, getting ready.

"Easy?" Hank asked incredulously, shaking his head before getting into his own stance that looked to Ellie to be rather flawed.

"Easy. Go!" Charles shouted and the leopard and the gangly young man surged forward.

Hank was fast, Ellie had to give him that, but not nearly as fast as he could be or needed to be to beat her. She pulled away from him immediately, rejoicing in the sweet sensation of fluid feline muscles rippling powerfully together to propel her forward.

She neared the end of the balcony and then passed it, never slowing down as she sped off into the woods, leaving the two men in the dust.

She ran and ran and ran until she could run no further, just enjoying the wind through her fur and letting it blow away all of her cares and worries about Erik, the Soviets, training and Charles until all of the stress she carried in her muscles just melted away. Running as an animal that loved to run beat a deep tissue massage for stress relief any day. When she finally slowed, she picked a nice tall tree and settled in for a short, very relaxed nap.

Well, she'd expected it to be short any way, but when she woke the woods were dark and still as they always became when the sun sunk below the horizon. She stood on her branch and stretched, drinking in the sweet night scents of the forest. But night scents weren't the only thing she smelled. Gunmetal. Directly below her.

Erik Lehnsherr stood, waiting as she leapt lightly to the ground. He wore a v neck t shirt that clung to his body like a second skin and a nice pair of slacks. She had to remind herself of what she'd planned to say to him, but she knew it was going to be difficult for bother her and the beast who was already purring with anticipation.

"Erik," she said coolly once she'd shifted back to human form. Maintain distance, she told herself over and over again. Maintain distance, maintain distance…

And before she could think, he was there with his chest pressed against hers and his hands in her hair and his mouth on hers so fierce and so metallic and so delicious she could barely keep her knees from collapsing beneath her. And he was just so warm and solid, his touch possibly the sweetest, most amazing thing she'd ever felt in her entire life and his tongue probed her lips for entry which she allowed before realizing what she was doing. And sweet mother of all that was holy, it was just so _goodI _

It was a faint scent that tickled her nose that knocked some sense back into her. A scent as familiar as it was foreign to this part of the woods. Charles.

Frantically, her fingers sought out the mangled lump of tissue on her hip and pinched, hard. She didn't bother to stop the cry of agony that escaped her lips and broke her connection to Lehnsherr. She lurched backward until her back hit a tree and she gripped it with claws, panting as she tried to pinpoint the origin of the scent. Thank goodness Erik had the sense to stay put or she might have killed him in that moment. And with no metal around manipulate, he would be nearly helpless.

There he was, just off to her right. He was clothed in black, and even her night eyes had trouble making him out but still she saw his eyes and wanted to crawl in a hole and die right there.

Agony. That was the expression in those eyes. Pure, utter, excruciating pain and rage. A tiny part of her argued saying, 'what does he have to be angry about?' but she shut that part up pretty quickly. All that mattered was that he hurt and she had to fix it.

"Charles, I—"

"You didn't come back," he said softly, pinning her to the tree with those eyes. "I was worried. I saw Erik in the forest. I followed him."

Ellie hung her head low to hide the tears threatening to become visible.

"How bloody long has this been going on?!" he very nearly shouted, his anger taking over from the pain. It was this, this assumption that he had any right to be outraged by what she did with her private life when she loved him so much and he never cared, would never care, that caused her to snap. Before she realized it, she'd done something she'd sworn never to do. She unleashed the power of the beast on him.

She didn't fully change, she had just enough self-control left, but she felt her muscles ripple as they increased in strength. Her fangs grew in and her eyes went feline, brightening up the world until she could see him as clear as day as she lunged forward, pinning him to a tree with her forearm across his throat, her teeth bared in a snarl.

"What on earth makes you think you have any right to be offended by what I do with my free time? Or who I do for that matter? Is it that you're so much better than me, Charles? So much more righteous even though you don't share my beliefs? Is it that you're so much smarter? Well let me tell you something, you're not nearly as smart as you think you are! If you were you would have figured me out years ago and we wouldn't be here right now!" Her voice rose to a scream by the end and she just stood there for a moment feeling the wet tracks of angry tears on her cheeks and glaring as his face turned steadily redder.

Again it was a scent that halted her. It was acrid and sickening and it rose from his skin as his pulse sped up beneath her fury. Terror. Not fear, but terror was pouring off of him nauseating waves that normally would have excited her, but from him it was like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water on her and she stumbled backward, tripping over a branch and falling to the ground as he doubled over on his knees, clutching his neck and hacking painfully.

"Oh, God, no…" she whispered in horror. She had done that. She had hurt him, nearly killed him, the man she supposedly loved. What sort of horrible human being was she? She wasn't a human being. She was a mutant. A dangerous, bloodthirsty mutant who didn't deserve the love she so desperately wanted.

"I'm sorry, Charles," She whispered, knowing it was inadequate and that she could never atone for what she'd done. "I'm so sorry." And she turned and limped away toward the house, leaving Erik to take care of Charles.

**I cannot express to yall the depth of my shame that this is SOOOOOOOO incredibly late! I am so very sorry and I beg your forgiveness! I have gotten several reviews since I kinda vacated my sanity and since I didn't reply (for which I am also deeply sorry) I just want to say that I loved every one of them and thank you so very much for all of your kind words and support! **

**Now that I'm done groveling, let's talk about something I noticed the other day. I watched the Dark Knight Rises and of course became obsessed with it so I got on Fanfiction to see what they had, certain that John Blake/OC romances would be running rampant, but was absolutely dumbfounded. Rather than John Blake, everyone seems to be pairing their characters with Bane! Bane! Bane for crying out loud! What about that guy inspires girls to write romances about him?! The guy had NO redeeming qualities! I read a few just to see what they were all about and that was when I got it. These people weren't writing about Bane. They were writing about someone who looked like Bane but would fit in with their love stories. Some of them are very good, don't get me wrong, but Bane, the actual Bane who was in the movie made no appearance that I saw. **

**Anyhow, I just thought that was odd. So concludes another chapter of the ridiculous back and forth, love hate relationship between Charles and his lifelong friend Ellie with some Erik silliness thrown in. Don't know what I think about this, so tell me what you thought. As always, I live on your reviews and I will try to update sooner next time, I promise! **

**Until next time, Thank Yall! :)**


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